Neymar branded Bayern Munich bad boy Benjamin Pavard “crazy” after the France star was sent off against Paris Saint-Germain for a challenge on Lionel Messi that was described as a potential leg breaker by one pundit.
The Bundesliga giants won 1-0 at the Parc des Princes as Kingsley Coman came back to haunt his former club. Pavard’s first caution was for a foul on Brazilian superstar Neymar as the pair enjoyed a running battle throughout the first leg of the Champions League last-16 tie, for which Pavard will now miss in the Allianz Arena on March 8.
Neymar was clearly incensed by Pavard’s plan and as he was given his marching orders by English referee Michael Oliver and TV pictures clearly show the Brazilian shouting, “You’re crazy” as he points his finger towards his head. talkSPORT co-commentator Trevor Sinclair hit out at the tackle, saying: “Horrible tackle, I’ve got to be honest. It’s reckless, it’s out of control. He might just get something over the top of the ball but he completely takes out Messi. That could break your left leg, that’s the challenge you don’t want to see in the game.”
Despite the challenge, Bayern boss Julian Nagelsmann praised his player’s display and said: "The red card is not very good, especially since 'Benji' had a brilliant match. It was a difficult situation with a lot of speed at Messi. It was 50-50, between tackling or not. It's not very good for the second leg but that's how it is. Today he was brilliant so it's important.”
Christophe Galtier’s PSG are in big trouble after losing three games on the spin for the first time in 12 years. Messi and Neymar led their despondent stars to the club’s ultras section to apologise as they acknowledged the poor run of form. There are fears a lack of harmony at the club could see Messi leave, with the club rocked in the build-up to the Bayern clash by a bust-up between Neymar and team-mate Marquinhos and the club’s sporting director Luis Campos.
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