It was a touching moment between the Argentina team mates, and a lot may be read into Messi’s reaction at the final whistle.
Lionel Messi looked truly broken after the game, as his side failed to reach the quarter finals of the Champions League for the first time in 14 years.
Of course his desire to leave the club was well-publicised last summer, so there is a strong chance that this may have been the last time that Messi turned out for the Catalan giants on the European stage.
It looked like this realisation was not lost on Messi, and he was comforted by fellow Argentinian and PSG star Di Maria at full time, as the two shared a heartwarming moment. Di Maria appeared to tell Messi to smile, probably the Argentinian version of something along the lines of ‘chin up mate’.
This video of Messi trying to put up a heartbroken smile for Di Maria after the game against Paris Saint Germain is so emotional💔 https://t.co/LKbDKlqvyY
— Otutubuike Chukwudi (PsyD.) (@BillionOte) March 11, 2021
Football is all about respect ❤
Pedri and Mbappe swapping shirts and
Di Maria telling Messi to smile after the game 😭😭#PSGBAR pic.twitter.com/jPZotUk7IC— Maheen Siddiqi (@maheenjr) March 10, 2021
The respect shown between the two went down well with fans online. One wrote ‘This video of Messi trying to put up a heartbroken smile for Di Maria after the game against Paris Saint Germain is so emotional,’ whilst another said ‘I want someone to hug me the way Di Maria hugged Messi last night.’ Broken heart and crying emojis all round.
No one can doubt the effort that Messi put into the cause last night. He scored an absolute screamer to get Barca back in the tie, but did have a penalty brilliantly saved by Keylor Navas on the stroke of half time, a moment that would have completely shifted the balance of the second half had it gone in.
Of course, Ronald Koeman will be hoping that this wasn’t the last time that Messi appeared for Barca in Europe’s elite competition.
The Dutch boss said after the game: “Leo has seen for quite some time that the team is improving thanks to all the changes we’ve made.”
“Particularly, we have young players of great quality. We’ve got a great future ahead. Leo can’t have any doubts about what the future holds for this team.”
But based on the reaction of “Leo” there seemed to be a lot of significance in this particular exit from the competition…
