(Paris) Paris SG dreamed of being great in Europe, it will have to fight to remain king of France: Lionel Messi, symbol of the club’s “bling-bling” policy, embodies the current malaise of the French club.
Crime of lèse-majesté, the sevenfold Ballon d’Or was again whistled by the Parc des Princes during the defeat against Lyon (1-0).
Already last year, after the elimination against Real Madrid in the 1/8 finals of the Champions League, he had been spectacularly booed. Like Neymar.
Messi had been spared after the new failure against Bayern Munich in early March, but against Lyon, the stadium frankly grumbled.
In the eyes of many supporters, the “Pulga” symbolizes the bad choices of management, more political and marketing than sporting.
Certainly, aligning one of the best players in history has attracted the attention of the whole world to PSG, but in the game he has only too sparingly distributed his strokes of genius.
Brilliant before the World Cup, Messi is much less so with the red and blue jersey since he finally won the Grail, on his fifth attempt, against Kylian Mbappé’s France.
But the majesty at PSG now is “Kyky”, not Messi.
The question arises within the Parisian management of keeping a player who will be 36 years old at the end of his contract, who weighs 40 million euros per year on the payroll of a club closely watched by the franc- financial game.
From an internal source, the club could offer a slight drop in salary to his N.30, which would encourage him to leave.
Several destinations are available to him, between returning to Barcelona, which dreams of it, but does not have the means to align financially, joining his rival Cristiano Ronaldo for a gold-plated contract in Saudi Arabia, or talking about MLS North American at Inter Miami as he made talk of Ligue 1.
But the future of the world champion is not the only question mark for PSG.
Coach Christophe Galtier is moving away from keeping his job as his team’s performance deteriorates.
After having protected his players for a long time in his communication, the technician regretted the “resignation” that won his team and spoke of the “cold anger” that won him to make this observation.
“You have to react quickly, not believe that things will happen in a natural way,” says Galtier.
“Everyone, I mean everyone, from me, must be aware of the situation and the work we have to do” because the title is no longer guaranteed, despite six points ahead of Lens , who comes to the Park in a fortnight, and Marseille, nine days from the end.
“I don’t blame my players, this group was able to perform all the first part of the season, it’s much more difficult in the second part”, he adds, but he believes in them because “they are champions”.
The coach received the support of his friend Laurent Blanc, with whom he was European Espoirs champion in 1988.
“Christophe will get there”, assures the Lyon coach, in particular “because at some point the pride of the players takes over. Paris is in the middle of this somewhat delicate moment, but it will come back.”
Former of the house (2013-2016), dismissed when he had just been champion of France and had extended, Blanc has no trouble putting himself in the place of Galtier.
“I know a little about the places, the club…” sighs the Cévennes. “The problem in Paris is that when the number one objective is no longer accessible, it seems that the season no longer exists, at all levels. It’s like that “.
“We feel it, we perceive it: the Champions League continues, everything is fine. She stops and it’s all over. We are talking about next season, it is very difficult to remobilize the players, because the environment is difficult, it is going all over the place. It’s hard to bear, but Christophe will make it,” he insists.
