Messi

Picture Credit: Twitter

In what came as a shocking development for football fans, Paris St-German were handed a stunning defeat on penalties after Nice sealed a sensational victory in the round-of-16 clash on Monday. PSG's hopes of defending their French Cup title were brought to an end on Monday as they lost the match 6-5 in Paris. However, after a disappointing outing, PSG's star player Lionel Messi faced massive criticism from football fans for his disappointing performance in the match.

After the game ended goalless in standard time, the visitors won the game in penalties 6-5 to advance to the next round. The defeat was a blow for PSG boss Mauricio Pochettino, having named a strong team, including Messi. The star footballer who has only managed to score only once in Ligue 1 since his sensational transfer from Barcelona last summer failed to make an impact against Nice. A few fans of the 34-year-old Argentine closely monitored his performance on the field and after the match, they were quick to highlight how Nice's defenders had answers to every move from Messi.

Messi's performance came as a surprise to many fans as they were infuriated with the results; they had several suggestions for Messi on social media. "Instead of moving the ball quickly, he'd rather dribble everyone on his path like it's 2011. He needs to adapt his game," one fan said. At the same time, another tweeted: "No longer the best in the world. [Robert] Lewandowski, Kevin De Bruyne and Mo Salah are all better. This man threw the last years of his career away when he joined PSG instead of Man City." While, few were amused to see Messi's move and asked if he is, "alright?"

 

PSG Manager responds

Responding to the defeat, the PSG manager Pochettino expressed his disappointment.  "(PSG) Must be more clinical with their chances. We must be more clinical. When you get to penalties, it is a lottery. You have to take your chances in front of the goal before getting to pens. With Kylian [Mbappe], he had some discomfort over the past few days, so we decided not to risk him from the start," he stated.