Gauthier Delomez / Photo credits: Jean-Christophe Verhaegen / AFP 17:32 pm, June 01, 2023

Argentine star Lionel Messi will leave Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the season, coach Christophe Galtier said on Thursday. The opportunity to look back in pictures on the two seasons spent by the genius of football at PSG, from his triumphant arrival at Le Bourget airport to his expected departure.

August 10, 2021, Lionel Messi arrives at Le Bourget airport, near Paris, and wearing a white t-shirt "Here, it's Paris", the Argentine star greets at the window the hundreds of PSG supporters who came to cheer him. That time seems distant now. Nearly two years after this triumphant arrival in France, the football genius will leave Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the season almost anecdotally.

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Criticism 'not at all justified', says Galtier

"A lot has been said about Leo, you have analysed a lot," said PSG coach Christophe Galtier, confirming the departure of the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner on Thursday. The French tactician found the criticism of the Parisian number 30 "not at all, but not at all justified". After playing more than 15 years with FC Barcelona, his long-time club, "Leo" Messi played two seasons with PSG, scoring a total of 31 goals.

Figures, however, below the expectations of Parisian fans, who were mainly waiting to win the grail, the Champions League, thanks to the football superstar. With Paris Saint-Germain, Lionel Messi will still have won twice the championship of France Ligue 1. The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner will also have lifted the most prestigious of trophies, the World Cup with Argentina, while playing with the capital club. At the moment, his next football destination has not yet been revealed, although some leads are sending him to Saudi Arabia. The Spanish fans of FC Barcelona hope in any case his return to the club...