Lionel Messi’s PSG career should be over if it were up to part of the hard core of Paris Saint-Germain. The Argentinian superstar is accused of not working hard enough. “Back to Barcelona? I don’t know if they still want that,” is the verdict.
When his name for the home game with Stade Rennes (0-2) blared through the speakers, boos and a whistle sounded. Messi had to help PSG to the coveted final victory in the Champions League, but that will not work again. “They are betting everything on the Champions League, everyone believes the league and cup,” said Khalid Boulahrouz at Rondo. “How long have they been trying? Seven, eight years? When you see how he played against Bayern, it was not fantastic. There is a tendency that we should not say anything about Messi, because he is the best of all time. But if you see how he sometimes walks…”
“I would be sorry if the situation gets so bad that Messi has to leave there”
Table companion Rafael van der Vaart misses the poison with the world champion. “I was a bit turned off by him when Koeman became Barcelona coach. Then he would deliberately do nothing if someone dribbled past him, sabotaging a bit. You have to imagine that as a coach you try to do your best and then you have such a player. That says something about a person’s character. He doesn’t have the same poison as with Argentina,” he commented.
Ruud Gullit was there when Messi led Argentina to the world title in Qatar. “I then asked people: if you didn’t know it was Messi, would you switch him? Yes, they said. Based on status you hope he does something. Pep Guardiola also said afterwards: I left because I couldn’t change him anymore,” he added. “There you have it already.”
According to Gullit, it looks like Messi saved a training camp at PSG to become champion: “And then it’s over. That’s how it feels for those people there. I’d be sad if the tenor gets so bad that he has to get out of there. You have to leave with something. Back to Barcelona? I don’t know if they still want that.”
