Mauricio Pochettino says it is "unbelievable" that some Paris Saint-Germain fans continued to boo Lionel Messi after his star turn against Lens on Saturday, which helped the club clinch their 10th Ligue 1 title.
Messi has endured a frustrating debut campaign at PSG, having joined the club on a free transfer following his surprise departure from Barcelona last summer.
The 34-year-old's output in the final third has dropped considerably and he was unable to inspire the team beyond the round of 16 in the Champions League, with supporters singling him out for blame alongside Neymar.
What has Pochettino said about Messi?
Messi and Neymar were both subjected to boos after PSG's loss to Real Madrid, and the former was targeted again following his latest outing against Lens.
PSG earned the point they needed to regain the Ligue 1 title with a 1-1 draw against Franck Haise's side, with Messi scoring the goal with a superb long-range shot, but he was still jeered by a section of home fans during the post-match celebrations.
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Head coach Pochettino was left baffled by the reception for the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner, and told ESPN Argentina: "The whistles against Messi? It's unbelievable. These are hard things to accept. A difficult situation to imagine and which cannot be understood in my opinion.
"All the more so with the greatness of Messi, what he gives and will continue to give to football."
Messi's underwhelming 2021-22
Messi scored 38 goals across all competitions in his final season at Barcelona, but has only managed nine so far in 2021-22.
Only four of those have been recorded in Ligue 1, with PSG relying more on Kylian Mbappe as their main source of goals as the Frenchman has netted 33 in 42 appearances.
Messi has however also provided 13 assists, and after adding Ligue 1 to his trophy collection he is now just four pieces of silverware behind former Barca team-mate Dani Alves' all-time record of 43.