Messi, 36, left Barcelona after 17 seasons and joined PSG in the summer of 2021. He will now move to the United States to play for Inter Miami in the Major League Soccer.
In addition to calling two consecutively unsuccessful Champions League bids a “massive disappointment,” Lionel Messi described his debut at previous club Paris Saint-Germain as “very tough.”
“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 said in an interview with beIN Sports that was aired on Sunday.
With a new gameplan, new teammates, and a new place, it was in fact much tougher to adapt than I had anticipated.
“I arrived late, and I missed preseason. For my family and I, the beginning was challenging.
Messi, 36, left Barcelona after 17 seasons and joined PSG in the summer of 2021. He will now move to the United States to play for Inter Miami in the Major League Soccer.
Messi’s debut season, in which he played 34 games for PSG and scored 11 goals, was made more difficult by the month-long injury he sustained from contracting Covid while on winter break in Argentina.
“It took me time to refind my physical form,” he acknowledged, adding that the World Cup in Qatar in 2022, which Messi and Argentina won, also had an impact.
It’s not an excuse, but the World Cup had a significant impact. Some returned more slowly than others, and some — like Neymar — were hurt.
“In general, I believe the World Cup had an impact on the caliber of Ligue 1 and the Champions League.”
Messi acknowledged the “massive disappointment” of his team’s Champions League defeats to Bayern Munich this year and Real Madrid in 2022.
Even several PSG supporters turned on Messi, whistling at him from the stands in some instances.
“At first, everything went well, and I got lots of positive reinforcement… Later on, though, I encountered some unfavorable treatment from some Parisian fans. While the bulk of the public treated me warmly, there was a rift with some of them, he confessed.
AFP
