Barcelona legend Lionel Messi has been heavily criticised for his “shipwreck” performance in Paris Saint-Germain’s shock 3-1 defeat to Nantes on Saturday.
Randal Muani scored the opener for Nantes inside five minutes at the Stade de la Beaujoire before Quentin Merlin doubled his side’s lead.
Ludovic Blas beat Keylor Navas from the spot-kick deep into first-half injury time to put Nantes into a commanding 3-0 lead going into half-time.
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PSG responded early in the second half after Neymar slotted past Alban Lafont, but Mauricio Pochettino’s men were unable to mount a successful comeback.
Neymar, 30, failed to build on PSG’s momentum after his dreadful penalty was comfortably saved by Lafont.
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Messi might have set up former Barcelona teammate Neymar during the Nantes defeat, but the Argentine ace has been spotlighted by fans over his performance.
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The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner has scored seven times and registered nine assists for PSG in 22 appearances since signing for the Parisian club last summer.
However, Messi has only scored twice in Ligue 1 and the former Barcelona captain’s goalscoring form at PSG has raised concerns.
One fan has produced a compilation to showcase the 34-year-old Argentine superstar’s highs and lows against Nantes.
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Messi can be seen playing some superb passes, but on other occasions, the PSG forward failed to find his teammates and he was easily dispossessed off the ball.
The Argentina captain also failed to impress during PSG’s hard-fought 1-0 win over Real Madrid in the Champions League last Tuesday.
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Messi was denied from the spot-kick by Thibaut Courtois in the second half, with fans calling the former Barcelona star a ‘shadow of his former self.’
A sensational Kylian Mbappe winner deep into injury time sealed an important win for PSG in their first-leg round-of-16 tie at the Parc des Princes.
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Messi, who received a 3/10 rating from L’Equipe, was also on the receiving end of a furious reaction from Danilo Pereira after not tracking back in the Madrid clash.
PSG remain in pole position for the Ligue 1 title, despite their 3-1 defeat to Nantes.
Pochettino’s men sit atop of Ligue 1 and hold a 13-point lead over second-place Marseille with 13 league matches remaining.
PSG return to action on Saturday when they host Saint-Etienne at the Parc des Princes, with kick-off slated for 8pm UK time.
Topics: Lionel Messi, Paris Saint-Germain, Ligue 1, Football, France
Adnan Riaz