Lionel Messi didn’t mind the booing in his last game against Paris Saint-Germain because the French league champions lost 3-2 to Clermont on Saturday.
Disrespectful PSG fans booed Messi because the Parc des Princes announcer read his name on a warm evening. Minutes later, Messi entered the pitch with a smile on his face, holding the hands of the three children before the team was taken off and kissing them on the brow before kick-off.
“I would love to thank the club, the town of Paris and its people for these two years. I wish you all the most effective for the longer term,” Messi told the club’s website.
In two seasons at PSG, Messi won two French leagues and the French Champions Cup, and scored 32 goals and 35 assists in all competitions.
Messi scored in a 1-1 draw with Strasbourg last week to assist PSG win a record eleventh French league title. Together with his 496th profession league goal, the Argentine genius also broke Cristiano Ronaldo’s goalscoring record in Europe’s top five leagues.
The World Cup winner has not signed a contract extension offered by Qatar-backed PSG and is heavily linked with a move to the Saudi club where he could earn extra money than Ronaldo. Inter Miami is one other possible option, nevertheless it would not give you the option to match the Saudi bid of lots of of tens of millions of dollars.
Messi tried hard to get on the scoresheet on the last day of the French league.
He had a shot parried by Clermont goalkeeper Mory Diaw within the 14th minute, shot wide within the thirty first minute and curled a free-kick over the crossbar within the forty second minute.
The selfless Kylian Mbappe ran solo within the 54th match to cheer on Messi as he burned over the bar.
Messi almost found the web within the 59th minute, but Diaw spun the ball across the post. Diaw denied Messi again during halftime with a free-kick.
After the ultimate whistle, Messi hugged his teammates and shook hands with the Clermont players.
PSG took a 2–0 lead with a header from the departing Sergio Ramos within the sixteenth game and Mbappe’s penalty within the twenty first.
But Clermont equalized before the break with goals from Johan Gatien and Mehdi Zeffane.
Grejohn Kyei scored the winning goal with a cross within the 63rd game.
Despite his aging legs, Messi has created moments of magic this season; an overhead kick against Clermont last August, the ball overhead for Mbappe who scored against Lille in August for the league’s fastest combined goal, an added-time free-kick that beat Lille in February and a superbly placed pass perpendicular to Mbappe against Brest in March.
There have been hopes Messi would stay one other yr in Paris after expressing joy on the club in March.
“Yes, it’s true that I feel superb,” Messi told the club’s website. “In my first yr, I needed a while to adapt to Paris for various reasons, but I began this season really in another way, with lots of desire. I feel more comfortable within the club, in the town, in every part Paris means. And the reality is, I’m really having fun with this season.
However the mood modified after PSG’s exit within the Champions League round of 16.
Messi was expected to be the missing piece of the puzzle for the club of their quest for their first Champions League trophy. But PSG lacked the structure and balance of the Argentine team, with Julian Alvarez up front and Rodrigo De Paul on the suitable wing doing Messi’s dirty work.
PSG fans have jeered at Messi over the last few months as his form declined after helping Argentina win the World Cup.
Then relations with the club soured last month when Messi was suspended by PSG after an unauthorized trip to Saudi Arabia. Messi has a trade cope with Saudi Arabia to advertise tourism within the country.
Despite Qatar’s embarrassment, PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi appeared to indicate no resentment on Saturday.
“His contribution to Paris Saint-Germain and Ligue 1 can’t be underestimated and we wish Leo and his family all the most effective for the longer term,” Al-Khelaifi said on the club’s website.