Ander Herrera confirmed that Lionel Messi paid the price for Paris Saint-Germain’s French “obsession” with winning the Champions League.
Messi moved to Saint-Germain in 2021 from Barcelona, and helped Saint-Germain win the French League in his first season with the team.
Saint-Germain is on the verge of winning the league title, although Messi’s stay with the team is not certain.
And Messi was not able to lead Saint-Germain to achieve his ultimate goal – to win the Champions League. In early May, he was targeted by a group of club fans.
Herrera, who played with Messi at Saint-Germain last season and has now returned to Athletic Bilbao, believes that the pursuit of the Champions League title is the main problem.
He said: I admired Leo before I knew him, and after knowing him, I admired him even more as a player and as a person.
He added: I understand that Paris Saint-Germain is not an ideal place that is characterized by patience. There is an obsession with winning the Champions League and that doesn’t help.
And he added: I think it is the only team in the world that if it does not win the Champions League, this is considered a failure. Other clubs can have good seasons without winning the Champions League.
He added: In Paris, calm and patience do not exist. You see that there is an obsession with winning the Champions League, and in the end, who pays the price for this?