Paris Saint-Germain manager Christophe Galtier has praised the fans who attempted to drown out the boos being directed at Lionel Messi during Saturday’s 5-0 win over Ajaccio.
Messi is expected to leave Paris in the summer and is being heavily pursued by former employers Barcelona, which led to animosity from fans well before he was punished by PSG for an unauthorised trip to Saudi Arabia earlier this month.
A section of the Parc des Princes crowd could be heard booing Messi with every touch he made on Saturday but Galtier preferred to focus on those attempting to celebrate the Argentine’s contribution.
“Yes, there were a few whistles when Leo touched the ball,” Galtier said after the game. “But very quickly, a large part of the stadium made sure to cover these whistles with applause, encouragement.
“What I remember is that Leo stayed in his game by being very focused and very involved, always with this desire to be the animator on the offensive plan to allow the team to play well and to create situations. After that, it’s like that.
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“He is used to… His career has led him to sometimes have difficult situations. But I repeat it once again, there were these whistles, but also all these encouragements and this applause each time he succeeded in a technical gesture.”
Teammates Renato Sanches and Danilo Pereira also took the opportunity to discuss the boos after the game, admitting they struggled with the atmosphere on Saturday.
“I don’t know, it’s a bit of a weird situation. It’s hard for Messi, for the team and for the club,” Sanches began.
“It’s tricky for everyone but especially for Messi because no player likes being in this sort of moment. But it’s a situation we can’t control. It’s difficult for him.”
Danilo added to Canal+: “It’s hard because we see teammates being whistled; it hurts. He is a teammate and we are all together. If you have to whistle, it’s the whole team. But it’s okay; we continue, we have a championship that we have to win and that’s what matters.”
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