Messi jeered by Camp Nou crowd

Posted Monday, May 19, 2014 by Marca.com

This apparent disinterest and lack of intensity is nothing new, as the Argentine has been sleep-walking through matches throughout the business end of the season.

The Camp Nou faithful vented their frustration at Lionel Messi's attitude during yesterday's title decider. The forward was largely kept quiet up front, but what really rankled the fans was his lack of effort, as he couldn't be bothered to chase down the ball after losing it on a couple of occasions. That was when the jeers and whistles began raining down from the stands.

This apparent disinterest and lack of intensity is nothing new, as the Argentine has been sleep-walking through matches throughout the business end of the season. His goalscoring stats aren't too shabby, but dig a little deeper and we see that a lot of his goals have come from the penalty spot and he wasn't involved in the build-up for most of the rest, simply applying the finishing touch.

The issue was compounded yesterday by the widespread expectation from the fans that Messi would deliver the goods after his new, improved contract was announced on Friday. They hoped this would spur on the pint-sized star, but this couldn't have been further from the truth.

It was another listless display from the twinkle-toed Argentine, who has gone missing in action regularly during the run-in and was virtually anonymous again, not enjoying any clear-cut chances and coming off second-best when he had a rare opportunity to run at the Atleti defence.

Though the Barca supporters were extremely sporting in defeat, applauding the Atletico players while they were celebrating on the pitch, Messi wasn't the only home player targeted by the boo-boys. Deafening jeers greeted the whole team when they headed down the tunnel.