Angry fans boo Lionel Messi ahead and during his final PSG appearance
Messi spent two seasons in Paris, during which he won two French leagues and the French Champions Trophy.
Lionel Messi’s farewell from Paris Saint-Germain was rather an unforgettable one as the 2022 World Cup winner was shown utmost disrespect by the supporters. It started even before the match against Clermont Foot 63 began as Messi was welcomed with boos when Parc des Princes announcer read his name while the players walked out for the pre-match warm-ups.
The disrespect towards the talismanic footballer continued even during the match, and the boos got louder when Messi failed to find the net almost from an one-on-one situation against the Clermont goalkeeper Mory Diaw.
The incident took place in the 54th minute, when Kylian Mbappe raced forward and squared the ball towards Messi, who then uncharacteristically chipped it over the crossbar, while attempting a curler towards the far post.
Three things are certain in life:
— Murtaza (@MurtazaBall) June 3, 2023
1. Death
2. Taxes
3. Leo Messi getting booed by his own fans 😠pic.twitter.com/aXPAR2ZraJ
While Messi failed to get his name on the scoresheet, another legend and former Real Madrid skipper Sergio Ramos, who too was making his final appearance for PSG, scored a header in the 16th minute. Mbappe then doubled PSG’s lead, but Clermont produced a solid fightback and defeated the Ligue 1 champions 3-2.
Meanwhile, Messi spent two seasons in Paris, during which he won two French leagues and the French Champions Trophy. He scored notched 32 goals and made 35 assists in all competitions.
In fact, Messi’s goal in the 1-1 draw against Strasbourg a week ago helped PSG clinch their 11th French league title. It was Messi’s 496th career league goal, which helped him overtake Cristiano Ronaldo’s scoring record for Europe’s top five leagues.
It will be interesting to see where Messi heads next as he has been strongly linked with a move to a Saudi Arabia, where he can earn more money than his contemporary Ronaldo.
Inter Miami and his boyhood club Barcelona are also other possible options but both wouldn’t be able to match the ridiculous offer of hundreds of millions of dollars made by Saudi club.
