'PSG not a football club, insult to football': France legend on Lionel Messi getting booed

PSG returned with the eighth overall loss of their 2022-23 season on Sunday night when the visiting Lyon side won by 1-0 at the Parc des Princes. Amid PSG’s loss, Lionel Messi arguably became the biggest talking point for the footballing world for receiving hurls and boos from the PSG faithful before and during the Ligue 1 match. As the events unfolded, former French international defensive midfielder Emmanuel Petit lashed out at the PSG fans for booing the seven-time Balon d’Or winner.

As reported by Get Football News France, Petit said, “When I hear that, for me, it’s an insult to football. As the teams warmed up ahead of the match, Messi was bored by his club’s fans but the 35-year-old looked unbothered. In a video going viral on social media from the practice session, Messi can be seen in a happy mood, conversing with teammate Kylian Mbappe.

As the match went ahead, Messi was involved in a few good moves but made matters worse for himself by losing the ball 26 times in total. The world champion was then whistled by sections of supporters, which comes amid speculations and rumors about him deciding to sign a new contract. Messi is out of contract at the end of the season and is being linked with reports about his exit from the club.

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"Nobody has improved while at PSG, is that Messi’s fault?"

Meanwhile, further reacting to the booing by fans in Paris, Petit added, “It’s not a football club. It’s a pre-retirement club, even for 20-year-old players. Nobody has improved while at PSG, is that Messi’s fault? He’s the magician with a wand, it’s up to the players around him to make an effort. […] Only the PSG fans don’t get that you need a squad built around Messi, which they don’t have, and won’t ever have, because [the management] are terrible in the market.”

This comes a week after Messi scored a hat-trick and achieved the milestone of scoring over 100 career goals for Argentina. This is not the first time, he had to deal with booing fans ahead of their loss to Rennes last month, for their elimination from the UEFA Champions League. Messi has most recentl linked with a move back to Barca after Barcelona vice-president Rafael Yuste revealed the club is still in contact with ‘Leo and his family’.