One of the crucial anticipated matches of the 2025–26 UEFA Champions League league section was performed on Wednesday in Spain. Paris Saint-Germain pulled off a last-minute win towards Barcelona, solidifying their standing as the highest contenders for the European title this season. However past the match itself, Lionel Messi unexpectedly turned a focus for each fanbases.
Chant duels between opposing followers are widespread in soccer. Via chants in help of their very own membership—and generally taunts towards the opposition—crowds within the stands add one other layer to the spectacle, past what occurs on the pitch.
That was definitely the case earlier than and through Wednesday’s Champions League match. PSG visited Catalonia for the primary time since successful their first European title final season, and Barcelona followers seized the second to ship a delicate message.
Quite a few movies surfaced on social media within the hours following the match, exhibiting a big group of Barcelona followers chanting Messi’s title exterior the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys in Montjuic, simply minutes earlier than kickoff towards the French facet.
The explanation behind these chants is obvious: Barcelona pleasure themselves on having loved practically 20 years of Leo’s magic, they usually mock the truth that Messi’s time at PSG didn’t attain the identical degree of success. In reality, his stint in Paris lasted simply two years and ended with harsh criticism from the French fanbase directed on the ahead.
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Messi at Barcelona and PSG
The distinction between Messi’s time at Barcelona and PSG is stark. With the Catalan facet, he started his skilled profession in 2004 and stayed for 17 years, till the membership’s monetary points pressured his departure in the summertime of 2021. Throughout that point, Leo turned Barcelona’s all-time chief in appearances (778), targets (672), and titles (34).
At PSG, Messi’s story was shorter and extra turbulent. Signed in that very same summer season of 2021 to affix a crew that already featured stars like Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, expectations had been sky-high. However issues didn’t go as deliberate—both individually or collectively.
In his two seasons in France, Messi recorded 32 targets in 75 matches and gained three titles. Nonetheless, back-to-back Champions League exits within the Spherical of 16 proved to be main setbacks that impacted the ahead’s keep in Paris.
What did Messi say about PSG followers?
After his stint in France ended, Messi spoke on a number of events about his expertise there. “I feel to start with it was one thing great,” stated Lionel throughout a 2023 interview with beIN Sports activities. “However then some folks began to deal with me in another way, part of the Paris supporters.”
The ahead acknowledged that this wasn’t the case for each fan. “I feel the overwhelming majority nonetheless see me and deal with me as they did at first, however there was a fracture with a major group of the Paris followers, which clearly wasn’t my intention, removed from it,” defined Messi. “It occurred simply because it had occurred earlier than with Mbappe, with Neymar. I do know that’s the best way they behave.”
PSG’s failures within the Champions League throughout these two seasons—mixed with Argentina’s win over France within the FIFA World Cup 2022 last in Qatar—had been key components that strained Messi’s relationship with the French supporters and finally led to his departure as a free agent in the summertime of 2023.
