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Thousands of Barcelona fans inside the Camp Nou chanted Lionel Messi's name in the 10th minute of their Copa del Rey semi-final clash against Real Madrid.
Messi, who is out of contract at Ligue 1 side Paris Saint-Germain this summer, has been strongly linked with a fairytale return to his boyhood club in recent weeks.
In fact, although it has been suggested that the Barcelona hierarchy have yet to contact Messi about a possible transfer, the club's vice president, Rafael Yust, recently claimed they have been in touch with Messi and his representatives.
With rumours over his future continuing to swirl, those inside the Camp Nou made their feelings known on Wednesday night, when large section of the stadium uttered the words, "Messi, Messi, Messi" in the opening stages.
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It was an otherwise dreadful evening for the Barcelona faithful, as goals from Karim Benzema [3] and Vinicius Jr sealed a historic Copa del Rey win for Real Madrid.
On the subject of Messi's future, the Argentine's reaction when a section of fans inside the Parc des Princes 'booed and whistled' his name on Sunday night was interesting.
That's right. When his name was announced ahead of their clash against Lyon, some fans inside the 80,000 capacity stadium were far from complimentary.
That being said, the Argentine didn't exactly look too bothered by the negative reaction.
The negative reaction to Messi's appearance at the Parc des Princes sparked a huge debate amongst fans and pundits.
Speaking to Amazon Prime Video after the game, former Barcelona teammate Thierry Henry said it was "embarrassing" to hear whistles from the stadium.
He also said Messi should return to Barca for "the love of football".
Henry said: “You can’t whistle one of the best players on the team, who has 13 goals and 13 assists this season.
"Personally, I would like to see him finish his career at Barcelona, in Europe. After that, I don’t know what he will do. Because the way he left Barcelona after everything he did… I didn’t really like it.
"For the love of football, he should go back to Barcelona."
Topics: Lionel Messi, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Copa Del Rey
Jack Kenmare