In the midst of boos, Lionel Messi bids farewell to Paris Saint-Germain

In his farewell match for Paris Saint-Germain, the French league champion team fell to Clermont 3-2, but Lionel Messi didn’t seem to mind the jeers.

When Messi’s name was announced at the Parc des Princes on a warm night, disrespectful PSG fans booed him. A little while later, Messi entered the field grinning as he held his three kids’ hands for the team picture and kissed them on the foreheads before to start.

“I’d want to express my gratitude to the club, Paris, and its residents for these last two years. Best of luck in the future to you, Messi told the club website.

Messi won two French leagues, the French Champions Trophy, and 32 goals and 35 assists across all competitions in his two seasons with PSG.

Last week, Messi scored in a 1-1 draw in Strasbourg to help PSG win their record-tying 11th French league championship. The Argentine talent also surpassed Cristiano Ronaldo’s scoring mark for the top five leagues in Europe by scoring his 496th goal in league play.

The World Cup champion declined the contract extension that Qatar-backed PSG offered him and has been heavily rumored to be interested in joining a Saudi club where he may make more money than Cristiano Ronaldo. Another alternative is Inter Miami, but they couldn’t compete with the Saudi offer’s hundreds of millions of dollars.

On the last day of the French league, Messi made a valiant effort to score. Mory Diaw, the goalkeeper for Clermont, parried one of his shots in the 14th minute. He then struck wide in the 31st minute and curled a free kick over the crossbar in the 42nd minute.

In the 54th minute, a selfless Kylian Mbappe made a solo move to set up Messi, who blasted over the crossbar. In the 59th minute, Messi came close to scoring, but Diaw’s low shot was deflected around the goal post. In the last seconds, Diaw again stopped Messi by palming a free kick away.

Messi gave his teammates hugs and shook hands with the Clermont players after the game.

With a header from the leaving Sergio Ramos in the sixteenth and a penalty from Mbappe in the twenty-first, PSG went up 2-0.

Johan Gatien and Mehdi Zeffane, though, scored goals for Clermont to equalize the score before halftime.

Grejohn Kyei converted a cross for the game-winning goal in the 63rd minute.

Messi has had some magical moments this season despite his deteriorating legs, including an overhead kick against Clermont in August of last year, a ball over the top for Mbappe to score against Lille in August that was the league’s joint-fastest goal, a free kick in stoppage time to defeat Lille in February, and a perfectly timed throughball for Mbappe against Brest in March.

After professing his delight at the club in March, there were expectations that Messi might remain in Paris for another year.

Messi admitted to feeling “very well” to the club website. “I required a little time the first year to get used to Paris for a variety of reasons, but I began this season quite differently, with a lot of passion. I’m more at ease at the club, in the city, and with all that Paris represents. And I have to admit, I’m having a great time this season.

But once PSG lost in the Champions League round of 16, the atmosphere altered.

Messi was anticipated to be the last component needed for the team to win its first Champions League championship. However, PSG lacked the balance and structure of the Argentina squad, where Messi’s dirty work was done by Rodrigo De Paul on the right flank and Julian Alvarez up front.

Messi has been booed by PSG supporters recently since his performance has declined since he assisted Argentina in winning the World Cup.

Then, last month, when Messi was banned by PSG after an unapproved trip to Saudi Arabia, things with the team became worse. Messi has a business agreement with Saudi Arabia to advance travel there.

Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the president of PSG, didn’t seem to be upset by Qatar’s disgrace on Saturday.

Leo and his family have our best wishes for the future because of his commitment to Paris Saint-Germain and Ligue 1, Al-Khelaifi said on the team website.