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United States Lionel Messi contacted by Barcelona boss Xavi after PSG's Champions League failure
Lionel Messi was sent an encouraging message by Xavi after Paris Saint-Germain were dumped out of the Champions League in dismal fashion.
The French club threw away a 2-0 aggregate lead against Real Madrid with Karim Benzema scoring a second-half hat-trick to send Los Blancos through to the quarter-finals.
As PSG's season hinges on European success, there has been bitter backlash to the result from their own fans and calls for president Nasser Al-Khelaifi to resign.
For Messi, it is the latest blow of a challenging first season in new surroundings during which he has struggled to replicate his best Barcelona form.
The Catalan giants are managed by his former teammate, Xavi, and the Spain legend showed his class by reaching out to his friend "to encourage him after the game".
Was Lionel Messi to blame for Paris Saint-Germain's Champions League exit? Have your say in the comments...
"I have a friendly relationship with Messi and we are talking," Xavi said ahead of Sunday's La Liga clash against Osasuna. "Yes, I sent him a message to encourage him after the game.
"It was a duel that changed in 20 or 25 minutes in which Madrid had faith and desire and turned the scoreboard in a match that was very difficult."
Xavi and Messi won the Champions League four times together but the former admits elimination from the competition is only ever one lapse in concentration away.
"The Champions League is like that," he added.
"When you lower the intensity a bit, the rival ends up running over you.
"I think that's what happened in that game and that's why Madrid was able to qualify. A bad moment condemns you to the Champions League."
Messi has not lifted the Champions League since the 2014/15 season, when Barcelona won the continental treble under Luis Enrique.
Meanwhile, the Argentine superstar and his compatriot Mauricio Pochettino will be desperate to return to winning ways as they host Bordeaux on Sunday afternoon.
The PSG boss confessed he was p***ed off by the way his side capitulated at the Santiago Bernabeu in a no-holds-barred assessment of the match.
'It p***ed me off because if you break it down, for the first leg and 60 minutes of the second leg, the team were superior," Pochettino said, per Get Football News France.
"Maybe we deserved to lead by more goals and the way in which it was taken from us, it really p***ed me off – excuse my language."
He added: "It leaves a really painful mark and it's hard to move on. I'm angry, tired… It's hard to sleep at night but we have a responsibility to continue."
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