Messi humiliation made me laugh –Boateng

Jerome Boateng has laughed off the reaction to him
falling over as he tried to tackle Lionel Messi when
Barcelona thrashed Bayern Munich 3-0 last month.
The defender was subject to a barrage of comedy
memes and social media criticism after he tripped up
while trying to backtrack in his own penalty area as the
Argentine scored the Catalans’ second.
Boateng has taken the Champions League semi-final
first leg aftermath in his stride, however, and suggested
that such pitfalls come with the territory when you’re
matched against Messi.
“That fall didn’t really affect me,” Boateng told ESPN. “I
was laughing at myself, too! When you fall down or slip
in a situation and somebody scores a goal, it’s normal.
“These things happen; it happens to me, it happens to
other players, I don’t care about these things.
“For me, he’s the best player in the world. That’s
football. Sometimes you look bad or something
happens. I’m a defender, that doesn’t kill me or
anything.”
Bayern were unable to salvage the second leg of the
European tussle with Luis Enrique’s men, winning 3-2
but going out 5-3 on aggregate as they had to settle
for just the Bundesliga in 2015.
“Of course it was a bad loss for us, and we did well for
75 minutes or something, and then against a team like
this it’s difficult,” the Germany international, 26, added.
“Especially the second goal was a great goal from
Messi.
“At the end of the day, you have to continue your hard
work, and next season I will try with the team again to
win the Champions League. Sometimes you lose,
sometimes you win, sometimes you are unlucky, but
that’s life.”