Things have not gone to plan for Lionel Messi at Paris Saint-Germain since his high-profile summer transfer from Barcelona.
The Argentine has netted just two domestic goals across 16 appearances since his move to the French capital this summer – and faced another frustrating evening as his side slumped to a 3-1 loss at Nantes on Saturday.
In November, Messi landed a record-breaking seventh Ballon d'Or title by scooping the 2021 accolade but reports have indicated that Messi is unhappy in Paris as he has failed to settle in the city and at the club for multiple reasons.
Messi's display was strongly criticised in the French press with daily L'Equipe ranking his performance as a miserly four out of 10.
Sergio Aguero, a close friend of Messi after their days together with the Argentina international team, has gone on an angry rant about the playmaker's treatment in the French press.
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Kylian Mbappe's last-minute winner secured a first-leg victory over Real Madrid on Tuesday evening, even though Messi saw his penalty saved by Thibaut Courtois.
The Argentine superstar has now gone eight matches without scoring or providing an assist against the Spanish giants – something he will seek to rectify in the second leg.
While aspects of Messi’s performance were praised – as he provided several goal scoring opportunities for teammates – it was also evident that he was not at the peak of his powers from his Barcelona career.
As highlighted by reports in France, one of Messi's teammates showed their disdain with his defensive work rate during the encounter against Madrid.
Messi lost the ball and allowed the opponents to break up the pitch without backtracking, which caused Danilo Pereira to foul Vinicius Junior and accept the inevitable yellow card.
The Portuguese midfielder launched a tirade at his teammate for his lack of effort in stopping that play from developing.
Furthermore, former France international and PSG winger Jerome Rothen has hit out at Messi for being a "burden" to the club.
Rothen has explained of the Argentine superstar: "He is a burden for the club. His first months have not been good and the relationship between Lionel Messi and PSG has been far from a success. This transfer was a bad idea.
"He is the best player, perhaps, of all generations that football has known. Still, I'm sick of hearing people say you can't criticise Messi.
"If you don't win the match, you have a huge frustration because Messi misses the penalty (vs Real Madrid).
"A player like Messi, with the status he has, it is tragic for him to miss a penalty, that's the reality, even if it can happen to anyone.
"But him, compared to what he has been bringing to PSG for seven months, he has no right to complain."
Both Messi and PSG will be looking to put their recent frustrations in the competition behind them this season but even if they do progress past Real Madrid, they face a huge uphill task.
Manchester City, Liverpool and Bayern Munich are rated above PSG for taking this season's title while teams like Chelsea, Manchester United and Juventus may prove difficult obstacles.
