Lionel Messi and Neymar were both jeered by PSG fans during their Ligue 1 match against Bordeaux, but is it all about them only?
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On any other day, Paris Saint-Germain registering a 3-0 win over Bordeaux in a Ligue 1 encounter would be business as usual. However, the treatment meted out to Lionel Messi and Neymar during the match made it anything but a normal day.
And we’re not talking about opposition defenders taking liberties with them either. No, the two superstars were targeted by heckles from their own fanbase.
Players getting booed during matches – even by their own fans – is nothing new. But these aren’t just any two players we’re talking about. This is Lionel Messi and Neymar being booed by their own fans.
By any metric, they are two of the finest football players of their generation – and in Messi’s case, arguably the greatest ever.
The PSG fans’ rebellion didn’t go unnoticed by social media, with Twitter soon going into overdrive. The two received plenty of support, however, most notably from their fellow pros.
Luis Suarez, who formed the feared ‘MSN’ trio alongside Messi and Neymar at Barcelona, shared an Instagram story in support. And Messi’s former Barca teammate Cesc Fabregas also tweeted his support.
Football has no memory whatsoever… it’s a shame. Always with you brothers ??
— Cesc Fàbregas Soler (@cesc4official) March 13, 2022
It is only fair that pros would defend their fellow pros. But it is worth asking this simple question – who was the actual target of PSG fans’ ire?
A simple look at where it is this actually comes from paints a much more troubling picture for the club.
The heckling comes just a few days after PSG’s latest Champions League exit – and it was another memorable one, for all the wrong reasons.
PSG have previously been on the receiving end of a two-legged comeback for the ages. I am referring to, of course, La Remontada when, ironically, Lionel Messi and Neymar were still at Barca.
Since then, PSG even made the final of the Champions League – losing the 2019/20 final to Bayern Munich. Since then, however, they’ve looked anything but ready for another tilt at the title.
And let’s be real here – the Champions League is what matters, both to PSG’s board and players. Ligue 1 or the Coupe de France matter little in the grand scheme of things any more.
The domestic titles have been all but a shoo-in for the club since the Qatari riches began to flow. And the priority now is simple – become kings of Europe and build on that.
It’s why the big bucks were splurged on Neymar, on Messi and even on Kylian Mbappe. It was to create a club of superstars good enough to challenge Europe’s elite.
As things stand, they are nowhere closer to being crowned champions of Europe than they were when the Qatar takeover was completed.
But why is that the case? Well, it comes down to cohesive team building – or a complete lack of it.
The impression of PSG – unfair or otherwise – is that of a club where stars go to make a quick buck. One look over their astronomical wage bill does little to quell those suspicions.
Ligue 1 is inarguably one of the least competitive leagues of Europe’s ‘top 5’, with no club coming even close to matching PSG’s resources.
And while PSG throwing money at the biggest stars has led to domestic success aplenty, it has yet to yield any returns at Europe. It’s not even hard to understand why.
Teams that have achieved success in Europe in recent years have been well-coached, cohesive units who knew how to win.
Even the Real Madrid team that won three Champions League’s in four years and full of superstars operated, by and large, as a unit. And it is in this that regard where this PSG project has failed.
This is a team full of individuals, full of attackers who will neither track back nor press, and full of players who are there for little else beyond a paycheck.
PSG fans expect effort, and a dedication to the shirt. It is worth noting that Mbappe, who seems set to depart the club for Real Madrid, was not subject to heckles.
The reason is simple – his performance levels have not waned. The same cannot be said about the rest of PSG’s superstars.
It’s perhaps too soon to call this a tipping moment in terms of PSG changing their strategy. But it certainly felt like a moment where fans expressed their dissatisfaction at the board’s handling of the team – by targetting two of the ownership’s pet projects.
