Lionel Messi and Neymar have been booed during Paris Saint-Germain’s Ligue 1 match with Bordeaux at Parc des Princes.
The Bordeaux clash represented PSG’s first match since their Champions League elimination. The Paris club were knocked out of the Champions League at the last-16 stage by Real Madrid.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side had looked in complete control, leading 2-0 on aggregate after Kylian Mbappe’s first-half strike at the Santiago Bernabeu.
However, a horrendous error from Gianluigi Donnarumma sparked an almighty collapse from PSG as Karim Benzema bagged a quick-fire hat-trick to send Carlo Ancelotti’s side through.
Reports would later emerge that UEFA were investigating PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi and sporting director Leonardo for confronting match officials after the match.
And the fallout appears to have now reached the pitch too, with fans of the club booing Messi and Neymar during the Ligue 1 match on Sunday.
Neymar signed for the club in 2017 in a world-record deal of £199.5m, while former Barcelona team-mate Messi moved to the French capital in a free transfer last summer.
PSG would go on to win the game 3-0 to open up a 15-point lead at the top of the table.
‘SPECTACULAR’ LAST STRAW LED TO PSG FAN REACTION – MAXIME DUPUIS, EUROSPORT FRANCE
What happened on Wednesday was the – spectacular- last straw. As PSG are too big for Ligue 1, their only objective is, in a caricatured way, the Champions League. But PSG has once again failed in its quest and this elimination looks like the previous ones, against Barcelona or Manchester United.
The fans are realising – they were starting to do so before this season – that PSG are built backwards: they accumulate individualities without building a collective. They think players will improve the team when it’s the contrary that works: look at Chelsea, look at Liverpool, etc. PSG is a life-size game of Football Manager where management buy what is shining and prestigious – hello Sergio Ramos.
It’s been like that for years and it’s what the fans blame on the Parisian management, Nasser Al-Khelaifi and Leonardo in particular.
Against Madrid, Mbappé was flawless. Messi did nothing and Neymar, without being the worst, is not at the level expected of him since his arrival in 2017 – he is often injured and with a questionable lifestyle. And now he has signed for PSG until 2025. Messi has two goals in Ligue 1. Now the fans see that of the three strikers, they are going to lose the one around whom Paris should be built.
