by Lionel Messi went from stardom to criticism in less than two weeks. The Argentine player, who to a large extent won The Best award for his performance in Qatar 2022, today is questioned about his performance at PSG, which on March 8 was eliminated in the round of 16 of the Champions League by Bayern Munich .
When ‘la Pulga’ arrived at PSG taking a step aside at FC Barcelona, in France they imagined that he would lead the team to the Champions League title, but it was not like that. Far from his performance with the albiceleste in the World Cup, Messi looked opaque in the round of 16 of the most important competition at club level in Europe. In some passages of the game he was even seen walking the field, a fact for which he was questioned.
In this context, former soccer player Jérôme Rothen, current sports commentator at RMC Sports, destroyed Messi. He stated that if the Argentine, currently 35 years old, came to PSG, it was because it was the only team capable of paying him his salary, although this does not mean that he pays his salary on the pitch.
“Only PSG could give him this salary and, of course, PSG fell on both feet because they thought that Messi was going to make us win.”. But he does not. It won’t make us win anything,” said Rothen, who wore the French club’s shirt between 2004 and 2009.
Jérôme Rothen also maintained that beyond Messi’s goals in the French league, whose football is incomparable with the Premier League, LaLiga or Serie A, he usually disappears in important commitments, such as PSG vs. Bayern for the Champions League.
He is right in his argument, at least, if the Argentine’s matches against Bayern Munich are taken into account, his executioner in the Champions League. Against the Bavarian team, Messi lost six games, won two and drew one against the German club.
“We don’t want Messi. He doesn’t want to invest in this club! I saw his statement where he said ‘I’m fine, acclimated’, but what are you acclimated to? Because you scored 18 goals or 16 assists this year against Angers and Clermont? But in the games that matter he completely disappears! Which is a joke, because we have seen their matches in the World Cup”, he added.
Jérôme Rothen was so discouraged that he stated that if PSG renews Messi’s contract, which expires next June, he will not go to the stadium to support the team again.
“If tomorrow I find out that his contract is extended, I will no longer go to the Parque de los Príncipes. That is a real problem for PSG, ”he explained.
Messi and the possibility of returning to Barcelona
On March 8, at the Círculo Ecuestre, a renowned Barcelona club, Joan Laporta, president of the Blaugrana team, could not help but talk about Messi. The reason: the journalist Joaquín Maroto, from the newspaper ‘AS’, affirmed that his return is in the offing.
“We have met with his father, we talked, I congratulated him on Argentina’s victory and we talked about the tribute to Leo. He has extraordinary affection for Barça and I don’t want to say more out of respect for the player and PSG who is playing there. The Messi thing is not about money, we have talked about the tribute, ”said Laporta, a comment that hints at the possibility, perhaps remote, that he will play again in the Catalan squad.
The FC Barcelona president also stated that if he could turn back time, he would make the same decision about Messi: let him go. “We did not have fair play. I would have liked it to continue and I did not know how to do it. I had to choose and I chose the institution. In Paris we saw each other from afar and exchanged glances”, concluded.
