Lionel Messi’s bodyguard kindly asks a pundit to move away from the desk before the Champions League final.

Lionel Messi’s bodyguard kindly asks a pundit to move away from the desk before the Champions League final.

Lionel Messi’s bodyguard, Yassine Cheuko, had a funny moment before the Champions League final between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal. At Budapest’s Puskas Arena, where Hungary is hosting the final for the first time, Cheuko walked over to the TNT Sports desk during a pre-match show. He folded his arms and posed for the camera, then playfully picked up one of the pundits, reporter Vitor Sergio Rodrigues, and carried him away. This made everyone watching burst out laughing!

Cheuko, who was born in France and has a background in martial arts and security, has been looking after Messi since before the 2022 World Cup. He sticks with Messi through matches at PSG and is expected to be part of the security team at the 2026 World Cup. Despite his role, Cheuko shared on social media that he’s been banned from walking the sidelines during games in Major League Soccer because there have been too many pitch invaders. He feels it’s a big problem and wants to help Messi stay safe.

Inter Miami, where Cheuko works as part of Messi’s security, said the decision to keep him off the pitch was the club’s. Meanwhile, Messi is not in Paris for the Champions League final since he’s getting ready to captain Argentina at the World Cup this summer. At 38, this will be Messi’s fifth and final World Cup, where Argentina will defend their 2022 title.

Argentina’s coach, Lionel Scaloni, left out some big names like Paulo Dybala, Emiliano Buendia, and Marcos Senesi from the 26-man squad. But he did include young stars like Nico Paz and Valentin Barco, who are showing lots of promise for the future.