Leave Lionel Messi alone! PSG star Marquinhos stands up to booing PSG ultras & demands they stop booing Argentine

• Messi booed against Ajaccio
• Contract running down
• Brazilian defends Argentine team-mate

WHAT HAPPENED? Marquinhos insists that Messi and, indeed, no PSG player deserves to be singled out for boos by the club's fans and has urged the supporters to stop such behaviour. Renato Sanches and Danilo Pereira have already said that such jeers "hurt" the team, while boss Christophe Galtier hailed the Argentine's professionalism as PSG won 5-0 against Ajaccio.

WHAT THEY SAID: Speaking to L'Equipe, the centre-back said: "I always respect protests when they are peaceful, at the times and places where it is necessary. Above all, I ask the supporters not to target one player or another. It must always be collective. A player doesn't walk on his own, he's not going to do anything on his own."

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Messi was suspended by PSG at the beginning of the month, for two weeks, after making an unsanctioned trip to Saudi Arabia. His contract expires at the end of the season and he has continually been linked with a potential return to Barcelona, or a move to the country he visited without PSG's permission.

IN THREE PHOTOS:

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(C)Getty images

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WHAT NEXT? PSG are six points clear at the top of the Ligue 1 table and face three more games this season, against Auxerre, Strasbourg, and Clermont Foot.