Twitter explodes as Lionel Messi loses penalty shootout with PSG in stunning Coupe de France exit
PSG arguably won the summer transfer window when they acquired Lionel Messi, Sergio Ramos, Georginio Wijnaldum, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Achraf Hakimi. Their extraordinary summer haul was bound to bring with it a fair share of expectations, and crashing out of the Coupe de France as early as Round of 16 was perhaps not one of them.
The French giants were stunningly knocked out of the competition following their defeat at the hands of Nice, who won the match 6-5 on penalties.
Lionel Messi wore PSG's number 10 shirt for the first time in their Coupe de France defeat to Nice 🔟 https://t.co/ltokjsNmLB
Although PSG fielded a strong team, they simply failed to find the back of the net in normal time or in extra time as the game ended 0-0, requiring a penalty shootout. Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe scored their respective penalties, but they proved to be insufficient when youngster Xavi Simons missed the side's last penalty of the night.
Manager Mauricio Pochettino was understandably disappointed by the result as shared his thoughts in a post-match interview with PSGTV. He admitted that his players were gutted about the defeat but stressed that focus needs to quickly shift onto the next match. He said:
"We are very disappointed, obviously, to lose on penalties. I think we were the better team overall, but not enough to get the victory. Penalties are always a lottery and tonight it wasn’t our night.
"Sum up the Coupe de France campaign? It’s not easy, because there were a lot of good things. We are very disappointed tonight, and now we need to try and be positive, even though it’s not easy and look forward and be strong for the next game.
"Of course the players are disappointed, like everyone, but on Wednesday we begin to prepare the next game and to be as good as possible."
Notably, this was Lionel Messi's first ever penalty shootout at club level, having previously been in six with Argentina. Of those six, Lionel Messi had lost three. Despite many fans expecting a routine victory for PSG last night, the Parisian club will play no more part in the domestic competition, thereby resulting in one less winnable trophy as they desperately seek to validate their summer business with silverware.
The shocking result elicited reactions from all around the world as fans took to social media to express their opinions. Twitter, for one, was set ablaze with varying reactions. Without further ado, here is a look at some of the
Best reactions to Lionel Messi and PSG crashing out of the Coupe de France
PSG went to the Coupe de France final 7 times in a row and then signed Messi and now they've just been knocked out before the quarter finals
MESSI IS GETTING BOOED BY THE PSG FANS NAAAH😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
NO WAY MESSI IS ALREADY OUT OF THE FARMER CUP 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
THIS GUY IS DRAGGING PSG DOWN 🤣🤣🤣
Pochettino has bottled THREE trophies in France with PSG in just over a year that has to be a record since their takeover 😂😂😂😂
PSG lost on Messi wasn’t the
penalties One who missed https://t.co/BcHMhLHvm0
PSG won 6 Coupe de France in 7 years before Messi. With him, they’re out in the round of 16.
Marcin Bulka who is on loan from PSG, just knocked PSG out of the tournament 😁
Goalkeeper Marcin Bulka, on loan from PSG at Nice, has just knocked his parent club out of the Coupe de France on penalties 🤯
He celebrated the win in true sh*thouse fashion - with a knee slide 😂 https://t.co/cfgNeDFuls
I’m happy that Lionel Messi left his comfort zone before the end of his career. Football fans all over have seen how ordinary he can be when he’s not playing in a system purposely built for him.
This is why Cristiano Ronaldo is the greatest to ever do it.
I hate to say it but Messi has actually made us worse. Terrible signing.
We should have signed Ronaldo. Lower wages and an extremely better player.
Lionel Messi lost possession 27 times today and created 0 chances 😭😭 hes genuinely not top 10 anymore