Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) defender Presnel Kimpembe spoke about fans booing Lionel Messi and Neymar in their 3-0 win against Bordeaux on Saturday. He stated that he understood the fans' frustrations.
The French giants returned from their heartbreak in the Champions League midweek with a solid win in Ligue 1. However, PSG fans made their feelings for the players clearly evident as they booed their own players despite the win.
Messi and Neymar particularly got backlash from the fans but their striker partner Kylian Mbappe was cheered.
PSG crashed out of the Champions League midweek at the hands of Real Madrid and the fans did not take it kindly. Mbappe scored two goals in two legs to put the French side 2-0 ahead. However, a 17-minute hat-trick from Karim Benzema in the second half of the second leg turned the game on its head.
Messi and Neymar both flattered to decieve in both legs for Paris Saint-Germain, with the former even missing a penalty in the first leg.
While addressing the press after the game, PSG defender Kimpembe has stated that he understands the feelings of the fans. He told Amazon Prime Video as quoted by Get Football News France:
“Inevitably we hear the whistles, even if we’re focused and concentrated on our match. We understand their disappointment, we understand their hatred."
The 26-year-old has also urged fans to get behind the team as he believes it was a collective failure for everyone at the club rather than of individuals.
"We’re professional, we know how to stay so too, and it’s now that we must raise our heads and be able to move forward in order to win Ligue 1… We are all at fault, no one more than anyone else," the French international continued.
He added:
"We are a team, we must stick together through good and bad. It’s time to show that we have character and that we’re a team by staying united and strong together, even if it’s hard, very hard.”
PSG's ambitious plan of building a star-studded squad with Lionel Messi and Neymar has clearly failed
Since PSG's mega takeover in 2011 by QSI, the French giants have been consistently in the pursuit of building a team of superstars.
They have been able to become the dominant force in French football with all their investment but Champions League glory has eluded them.
They have had the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani, Neymar, Mbappe and now Messi play for them. They also reached the final of the Champions League in 2020 but lost out to Bayern Munich.
With Mbappe set to depart in the summer, they might need to build their squad from scratch once again. They might also have to do that under a new manager with Mauricio Pochettino also likely to be gone.