He missed a penalty in the first leg of the Real Madrid tie and has found the net just twice in 18 appearances in Ligue 1. Five of those goals came in the Champions League, including two in a final group game against Club Brugge when Pochettino’s team were already through to the last 16. Yet those supporters did understandably expect more from Messi when he signed his two-year contract, which carries the option of a third season.īefore this weekend’s visit to AS Monaco, Messi has scored just seven goals this season in 26 games in all competitions. You can feel the fervour of the fans, and the explosion of noise that follows a goal is magnificent.” In an interview with the club’s magazine, he said: “The atmosphere in every home match is incredible.
Messi recently spoke of his admiration for those same supporters. “We understand the disappointment and frustration,” said coach Mauricio Pochettino last weekend. But they will have to wait at least another year and time is running out for Messi, who will be 35 in June and won the last of his four European Cups with Barcelona in 2015.įor now, he will have to focus on Ligue 1 and adding to his statistics that have so far been underwhelming when compared with his extraordinary record in his years in Spain.Ī player who won his seventh Ballon d’Or in November hardly deserves to be on the receiving end of boos from his own supporters, even if PSG fans could be forgiven for venting their frustration in the wake of their European exit. The Champions League is the ultimate goal for Paris, a prize their Qatari owners remain desperate to get their hands on 11 years after arriving in the French capital. And PSG, despite apparently boasting one of the best squads in the history of the game, were dumped out of Europe’s elite club competition in the last 16 last week, throwing away a two-goal aggregate lead against Real Madrid in a chaotic 18-minute spell in the second half of the second leg. “Sometimes you can have the best team in the world and not win,” he added. Yet Messi also admitted something else that day. “My dream is to win another Champions League and I think I am in the ideal place to have that chance and to do it,” Messi said on that feverish day last summer when crowds gathered outside the stadium to catch a glimpse of arguably the greatest player of all time. At his unveiling to the world’s press in a packed Parc des Princes auditorium following his stunning move from Barcelona, the 34-year-old declared that he had joined PSG in order to win another Champions League. Messi never hid his main aim when he arrived in Paris last August.
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