Presnel Kimpembe, a defender for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), talked about fans booing Lionel Messi and Neymar during their 3-0 win against Bordeaux on Saturday. He said he understood the fans' dissatisfaction.
The French champions bounced back from their Champions League misery with a convincing win in Ligue 1. Despite the win, PSG fans expressed their dissatisfaction with the players by booing their own players.
Fans booed Messi and Neymar in particular, although their striker teammate Kylian Mbappe was applauded.
PSG were knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid in midweek, and the fans were not happy. Mbappe scored two goals in the first two legs to give France a 2-0 lead. However, Karim Benzema's 17-minute hat-trick in the second leg's second half turned the game around.
Both Messi and Neymar failed to score for Paris Saint-Germain in both legs, with the former missing a penalty in the first leg.
PSG defender Presnel Kimpembe revealed to the press after the game that he understood the supporters' feelings. According to Get Football News France, he told Amazon Prime Video:
“Inevitably we hear the whistles, even if we’re focused and concentrated on our match. We understand their disappointment, we understand their hatred."
The 26-year-old has also urged supporters to rally behind the team, claiming that it was a communal failing rather than an individual failure at the club.
"We’re professional, we know how to stay so too, and it’s now that we must raise our heads and be able to move forward in order to win Ligue 1… We are all at fault, no one more than anyone else," the French international continued.
"We are a team; we must stick together through good and bad. It’s time to show that we have character and that we’re a team by staying united and strong together, even if it’s hard, very hard.”