Lionel Messi faced a chorus of boos from Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) fans on Saturday night upon his return from a two-week suspension.
It should be noted that the 35-year-old Argentine icon was disciplined by his club for embarking on an unauthorized trip to Saudi Arabia the previous week.
Despite the trip being a pre-arranged commercial commitment, Messi’s absence from training following a disappointing 3-1 defeat against Lorient led PSG head coach Christophe Galtier to call the team in on their scheduled day off.
In the game against Ajaccio on Saturday, both teams were reduced to 10 men after Thomas Mangani threw a punch at Achraf Hakimi, who retaliated.
PSG enjoyed a comfortable lead at halftime with goals from Fabian Ruiz and Achraf Hakimi, followed by Kylian Mbappe’s brace in the second half at Parc des Princes. The visitors’ misery was compounded by Mohamed Youssouf’s own goal, and tensions escalated as Hakimi and Mangani were shown red cards for their involvement in a scuffle.
Ajaccio’s best opportunity came in the 67th minute when Mickael Barreto’s right-footed shot from outside the box narrowly missed the target.
Messi played the entire 90 minutes of the match, which concluded with a 5-0 victory for PSG. However, the announcement of Messi’s name over the stadium speakers was met with loud jeers from the PSG fans. Furthermore, the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner faced additional verbal criticism when he first touched the ball during the game.
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