Lionel Messi has been branded a “finished” player by fans after the Paris Saint-Germain superstar missed an important penalty against Real Madrid on Tuesday.
PSG and Madrid went into half-time with the scores level at the Parc des Princes, but Mauricio Pochettino’s men threw away an incredible chance in the second half from the spot-kick.
Daniel Carvajal wiped out Kylian Mbappe in the Madrid box and PSG were awarded a penalty in the second half of their round-of-16 Champions League tie.
Messi stepped up for the subsequent penalty and swept the ball towards the bottom corner, only for Thibaut Courtois to deny him with a superb save.
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The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner’s miss initially appeared to be costly for PSG, with fans taking to social media to ruthlessly slam Messi for becoming a ‘shadow of his former self.’
One fan tweeted: “Is Messi now a shadow of himself?”
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Someone else posted: “Only one who looks lively is Mbappe. Hoping for a bit of Messi magic but he’s a shadow of his former self.”
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“Finished Messi should have allowed prime Mbappe to take the penalty,” a third Twitter user wrote.
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Another commented: “Messi is incredibly finished, terminate his contract, IMO.”
While a fifth added: “No way Messi is playing in Mbappe’s shadow.”
Despite Messi’s missed chance against Madrid, PSG secured a sensational injury-time winner thanks to Mbappe.
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Neymar, who replaced Angel Di Maria in the second half, linked up with the 23-year-old French forward by picking him out with a superb backheel.
Mbappe then burst into the box and, in the process, beat Eder Militao and Lucas Vazquez before slotting past Courtois with a sublime finish.
PSG will travel to the Santiago Bernabeu on 9th March for their second-leg Champions League tie with Madrid.
Featured Image Credit: BT Sport's Twitter/PATopics: Lionel Messi, Paris Saint-Germain, Ligue 1, France, Champions League, Real Madrid, La Liga, Spain, Football
