Lionel Messi will make his debut on the small screen in the second season of the series The Protectors. As seen in the trailer for the season, the footballer is in a supporting role.

The production tells the funny stories of three soccer agents, characters played by Argentines Adrián Suar (as Renzo 'Mago' Magoya) and Gustavo Bermúdez (as Carlos 'Conde' Mendizábal), and Colombian Andrés Parra (as Reynaldo 'Colombia' Moran). The cast also includes Martín Seefeld, Jorgelina Aruzzi, Gastón Soffritti and Karina Mazzocco.

To shoot the scenes with Messi, the leading actors Suar, Bermúdez and Parra traveled to Paris, where Messi has been living since he signed for the Paris Saint Germain in 2021. 

“It has really surprised us all. Not only his human warmth but his acting," said Parra, an actor known for playing Pablo Escobar in El Patrón del mal. 

"I think he's better off the pitch as a person than as a player, so you can imagine what he is," Bermúdez said about the Argentine soccer star's performance.

In the first season of the series, released in March 2021, fans were able to see how the three main characters founded their company — Los Protectores SA — and successfully position themselves in the Latin American and European sports market with acclaimed soccer players.

The second season begins a year after the founding of the company and although everything seems to be going well, the sudden appearance of competition changes the course of things and forces 'Mago,' 'Colombia' and 'Conde' to face powerful businessman Ernesto Cartens (played by Seefeld)

Star+ announced that the second season of The Protectors will air 45-minute episodes, which were filmed in Paris and Buenos Aires.

The season will premiere in 2023 exclusively on Star+. 

The script for The Protectors was written by the Argentine filmmaker Marcos Carnevale, who also served as director.

This will not the only TV production to feature Messi in 2022, as he will also participate in Argentina Selection, the series, which will premiere exclusively on Prime Video on July 10. That series, which recounts the path taken by Argentina to reach the next World Cup in Qatar, dedicates a lot of screen time to Messi, who is the captain of La Albiceleste, and hopes to take home the World Cup.