A look at the reason why Lionel Messi wore the No.10 shirt vs Nice

Argentina talisman, Lionel Messi were the No.10 shirt instead of his usual No.30 shirt during Paris Saint-Germain's loss against Nice in the round of 16 of the French Cup on Monday, 31 January, which came as a surprise to many considering that fellow team-mate, Neymar is the one who usually wears the number.

The reason that Messi wearing the No. 10 shirt against Nice was because of a French Cup tradition which maintains that all the starting XI players must wear numbers from 1 to 11 in the last 16 stage.

The 36-year-old was assigned the No.10 shirt by the club management in honour of the tradition and also as Neymar missed the game due to injury as he is currently recovering from a left ankle sprain with ligament damage sustained in a Ligue 1 game against Saint-Etienne back in November.

Messi is forever remembered for being an iconic No.10 considering that he established himself as arguably the greatest player in the history of the sport at Barcelona while wearing the number and won numerous professional and individual honours.

Messi took the No.30 shirt after signing for PSG as a tribute to the first shirt number he wore for Barcelona.