Sunday, May 7, the Aube stadium will be sold out. Troyes receives Paris Saint-Germain there on behalf of the 33rd day of the French Ligue 1 football championship. A gala match, with the Parisians as star guests. But football fans who have bought a ticket to see the dribbles and tattoos of Lionel Messi, world champion with 7 Ballons d’Or, will probably be at their expense. The Argentinian superstar shouldn’t be on the trip.
The club decided on Tuesday, May 2, to sanction its striker, guilty of having missed training on May 1 to go to Saudi Arabia, without the agreement of his employer, and participate in a promotional operation in favor of the office. of Saudi tourism under a personal sponsorship contract. Details of the disciplinary action were not disclosed. According to Agence France-Presse, the punished is suspended for ” several days “a period during which he can neither play nor train, and will not be paid.
Lionel Messi could be suspended for two weeks
RMC and The Team evoke, for their part, a suspension of fifteen days. The episode could mark the end of the hexagonal adventure of the footballer whose commitment ends next June and has not yet been extended. It is also a new stone thrown in the garden of a club which is experiencing a chaotic end to the season, between defeats on the ground and upheavals behind the scenes. Sunday, PSG experienced a new collective sinking against Lorient, a setback (3-1) at the Parc des Princes.
The Parisians, including Messi, came out under the whistles of their supporters. It was their sixth defeat in Ligue 1 since January, the ninth in all competitions. What if they lost their national title, after having failed, once again, at European level? Even if they are still in the lead five days before the end of the championship, they remain under threat from Olympique de Marseille, second with five points behind, and Racing Club de Lens, third at six points.
For Messi, the turning point of the World Cup
Lionel Messi is not the only one involved in this collapse. But he has clearly eased off since reaching his grail on December 18, 2022, winning the World Cup final with Argentina against team-mate Kylian Mbappé’s France. Sparkling until then, he then showed his immense talent only sporadically on French lawns, often giving the impression of being satisfied with the minimum service within a formation which followed the same slope.
Now 35, the former FC Barcelona striker was recruited in the summer of 2021 by Paris Saint-Germain, who saw in him a way to consolidate its economic and sporting project. The one who is considered one of the best footballers of all time, the equal of a Pelé or a Maradona, had to both strengthen the PSG “brand” and finally make the French club a winner of the Champions League. A paying investment for the first part of this ambition. A failure for the second.
In this context, Lionel Messi’s Saudi getaway went very badly with the club’s leaders. Their rapid response can be interpreted as a sign of their desire to signal the end of recess and restore order in the ranks. Well, some would say. Because the group made up of billions to win everything looks more like a constellation of individuals than a real team, and internal discipline is often flouted.
The supporters, too, decided to react. The Collectif Ultras Paris (CUP) calls for a rally in front of the club’s headquarters, Wednesday May 3 at 6 p.m. “It is time for things to change and for the Paris Saint-Germain institution to rediscover its soul, its Parisian spirit and its splendor, announces the CUP in a press release shared on social networks. The event should be peaceful, the aim is to get things done in a structured and intelligent way. »
