Lionel Messi didn't speak to PSG team-mate for THREE MONTHS for badmouthing Barcelona

Robin Bairner

8 Mar 2025 10:45 CST
4 min read

Lionel Messi, Antonella Roccuzzo — © IMAGO

Lionel Messi’s spell with PSG was marked by controversy and now it has been revealed that the superstar did not speak to one of his team-mates for three months after he badmouthed Barcelona.

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Messi moved to PSG in the summer of 2021, having said a hurried and tearful goodbye to Barca.

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His time in Paris was not enjoyable as it was marked by on-field struggles and off-field drama.

The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner now plays for Inter Miami in MLS, yet his love for Barcelona endures and there are even rumours that he could return to the club along with Neymar this summer.

Paredes reveals HUGE Messi fallout

Now Leandro Paredes has admitted that his Argentina colleague went an extended time without speaking to him after he spoke badly of the Camp Nou side prior to Messi arriving in France.

During the first leg of a last-16 Champions League clash in February 2021, Paredes tried to motivate his PSG team-mates, who won 4-1, by belittling Barca. Messi overhead as there was no crowd due to the pandemic and did not take it well.

“We went about three months without talking to each other. I had a very bad time,” Paredes told Infobae (via Sport).

“I sent him a message the next day, then another one 15 days later... I told him: 'It wasn't for you, it wasn’t meant to be offensive.' But he did not answer. He went three months without answering.”

© IMAGO - Messi teamed up with Paredes to win the 2022 World Cup

When Paredes did ultimately meet up with Messi while playing with Argentina prior to the Copa America, the situation was quickly cleared up.

“It had been three months without talking, and I thought: 'Now I have to see how he reacts,'” the Roma midfielder said.

“We arrived the same day at the camp. I arrived a little earlier and he appeared in my room. I was brushing my teeth, it was very early, and he threw water on me and said: 'What are you doing awake so early?'”

By the time Messi arrived at PSG, then, his feud with Paredes had been ended.