Italy midfielder Marco Verratti wants the media to stay out of his private life – “it’s the one thing I won’t miss when I retire”.
The Paris Saint-Germain star launched a lawsuit against newspaper L’Équipe after they falsely claimed he’d been in a nightclub before the 6-1 defeat to Barcelona.
The suit was later withdrawn after L’Équipe apologised, but it appears the former Pescara man is still unhappy with intrusions into his life.
Italy midfielder Marco Verratti wants the media to stay out of his private life – “it’s the one thing I won’t miss when I retire”.
The Paris Saint-Germain star launched a lawsuit against newspaper L’Équipe after they falsely claimed he’d been in a nightclub before the 6-1 defeat to Barcelona.
The suit was later withdrawn after L’Équipe apologised, but it appears the former Pescara man is still unhappy with intrusions into his life.
“These are things I will never understand about football,” Verratti told BeIn Sport.
“When I stop playing, it will be the only thing I won’t miss. Behind a computer or a television screen, everyone is fine to talk and they can say what they want.
“You can criticise me for my way of playing, you can say that I’m nothing or that I’m a problem for PSG. I accept that and I’ll never say anything about it, because that’s football.
“But when you want to go into my private life without knowing anything about it that’s not normal, I don’t accept it.
“I’ve heard some serious things about me and I’ve never said anything, but at some point you have to say ‘enough’.
“Someone who writes about football must talk about football. If I had a bad lifestyle off the pitch, I’d also be bad on it.
“If I’m rubbish on the pitch then it’s bad, but it’s not related.”
Verratti was asked whether the 6-1 defeat was the worst of his career, with PSG holding a 4-0 lead after the first leg.
“Yes, of course. No-one expected a result like that, least of all ourselves. What annoyed me is that we went out without playing our game.
“We only tried to defend, we waited for the 90 minutes to pass.
“Beyond that there are small things, but I remember better the 4-0 than the 6-1 to Barcelona.
“In the second half they didn’t have many chances. After that we know we can’t talk when we lose 6-1 but there were some things in favour of Barcelona.
“That’s football, we’ll have other chances. Sometimes you win and pull of great achievements, other times you make mistakes.”