Lionel Messi at Paris SG, this should have been the chronicle of a guaranteed triumph. And then finally, that was not the case. After more than twenty years spent in Barcelona, ??where he won everything, the Argentinian suffered to adapt to his new environment. As he confided without language of wood to the chain TyC Sports in Argentina. “It has been a change and a difficult year. When you’ve been in the same place all your life, especially at my age (34), it’s not easy. On the children’s first day at school, we cried with Antonella (his partner). We were like, What are we doing here? What happened ?” The only good news for him is that his children quickly got their bearings, which greatly relieved him: “Fortunately, the adaptation of the children has been spectacular. We were always afraid that they would find it difficult to accept change. But it was quite the opposite. It was very easy, they adapted very quickly to school, to their friends, to everyday life. All three have been phenomenal.”
Difficulties also visible on the pitch, for reasons Messi details: “I started the league late because I arrived at the club late, then I had a knee injury that stopped me for a while . I couldn’t play three or four matches in a row; can’t find the right rhythm. Then the holidays came (end of December) and I said to myself: well, after that, I start a new year, I will return to 100%, I will change, the adaptation is over. Except that I contracted the Covid. This virus has affected me a lot. I stayed a month and a half without being able to run well. When it started to get better, it happened Madrid. It completely killed us.”
This gave rise to a very special end to the season, marked by a title of champion of France and many whistles from the Parisian public. “That had never happened to me at Barcelona. The people’s situation and the anger is understandable because of the players we had, the team we had and because it happened again for another year, because it’s not the first time that a situation like this happens in Paris, to be eliminated from the Champions League in this way, and the anger is understandable. Then, whether or not I agree with the whistles against me and Ney in particular, it doesn’t change anything. We are the ones who have been singled out the most, that’s how it is… ”A detachment that Messi leaves aside when it comes to evoking the reaction of his three children to his whistles “In Paris, when they whistled at me, I said to myself: What will my children think? I did not like my children being present and listening to this. They didn’t tell me anything. They didn’t understand. This year, I had a hard time enjoying it. I want to come back to Paris and enjoy.”
A look already turned to next season, therefore, to forget a first exercise far from expectations with only 6 goals in Ligue 1 and 5 in the Champions League: “I think I can reverse the situation. I don’t want to feel like I changed clubs and it didn’t work out. And like you said, I know this year is going to be different, I’m ready for what’s to come, I know the club, I know the city, I’m a little more comfortable in the locker room, with my teammates and I know it’s going to be different.” While waiting for this possible rebound, Messi expects to give up the Ballon d’Or to another player, who holds seven, a record. A player he readily imagines playing at Real Madrid. “I have no doubt that Benzema deserves the Ballon d’Or this year. He had a great season and he was decisive in every round of the Champions League.
