Lionel Messi has described his start at former club Paris Saint Germain “very tough”, dubbing two successive failed Champions League bid a massive disappointment.
“I came to Paris because I liked the club, because I had friends in the dressing room, it seemed easier for me to adapt rather than another destination I could have gone to”, Messi revealed in an interview broadcast on Sunday.
He said, in reality, it was a very tough adaption, much harder than he expected, with a new game plan, new teammates, a new city.
“I arrived late, I didn’t have a pre-season. The start was difficult for me, my family”.
Messi’s first season, during which he scored 11 goals in 34 games for PSG, was made harder after he contracted covid during the winter breaks back in Argentina; meaning he was sidelined for a month.
“It took me time to refine my physical form”, he admitted, adding that the 2022 World Cup in Qatar – which Messi won with Argentina also took its toll.
“It’s not an excuse but the World Cup played a big role. Some came back later than other; some were injured, like Neymar”.
He also noted that in his opinion, generally, the level of League 1 and the Champions League was affected by the World Cup.
Messi admitted that Champions League losses to Real Madrid in 2022 and Bayern Munich this season were a “massive disappointed”.
There were even sections of PSG fans that turned on Messi, whistling at him from the stands.
At the beginning, it was great, I received a lot of encouragement but later on, a part of the Parisian fan base treated me differently. The majority treated me well, but there was a rupture with a part of the public”, he admitted.