Published 13:14 IST, February 17th 2021
Neymar calls Barcelona's penalty a joke during Champions League clash vs PSG
Neymar Jr slammed Barcelona's first-half penalty during the Champions League game against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday before deleting the tweet.
Last year's beaten finalists Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) romped to a crucial 4-1 win over Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday (Wednesday night). World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe was in fine form, scoring a scintillating hat-trick with Moise Kean adding a fourth goal in the game to put the Ligue 1 giants in the driving seat. PSG's response only came in after Lionel Messi kicked off the proceedings with a penalty, which was wrongly awarded according to many fans.
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Barcelona vs PSG: Neymar deletes tweet after calling Barcelona penalty a 'joke'
Neymar might not be fit to play against former side Barcelona, but the Brazilian international was amongst the many watching the highly anticipated clash on Tuesday. The game lived up to it's billing in the action-packed first half, with Barcelona going front through a Lionel Messi penalty. The Blaugrana captain came deep to get the ball and played a fantastic pass over the top of the defence to find Frenkie de Jong, who was tripped inside the box before the referee pointed to the spot. However, controversy ensued as many believed that the former Ajax star tripped himself and there was no contact whatsoever to suggest a penalty. Neymar was one of the many who believed so, tweeting that the penalty was a "joke" before deleting it.
Nonetheless, Neymar's former teammate Messi scored from the spot to give Barcelona the lead. And while conceding the first goal is always a huge blow, Mauricio Pochettino's side responded in some style with Kylian Mbappe equalising just minutes later. The World Cup winner stepped up his game in the second half, scoring his second just past the hour mark, with Moise Kean scoring PSG's third of the game. The former scored his third and PSG's fourth of the game with less than 10 minutes left to complete a brilliant hat-trick and give the Ligue 1 giants the bragging rights in the fixture.
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The Mbappe hat-trick was only the second Blaugrana have conceded at home in the Champions League, and the first after 24 years, since Andriy Shevchenko scored one for Dynamo Kyiv in 1997. Neymar meanwhile has been ruled out of both legs of the Champions League clash against Barcelona after suffering a lesion to the left adductor during the French Cup clash against Caen. The Brazilian international is expected to be out for around four weeks depending on the evolution of the injury.
(Image Courtesy: Neymar Jr Twitter)
Updated 13:14 IST, February 17th 2021