Paris Saint-Germain’s attacking might overwhelmed Red Star Belgrade 6-1 in the Champions League on Wednesday, with Neymar netting a hat trick that included two brilliant free kicks.
PSG coach Thomas Tuchel went with his strongest line-up up front with Neymar, World Cup star Kylian Mbappe, Edinson Cavani and Angel Di Maria playing in a 4-2-3-1 formation. They all scored in the first half except for Mbappe, who had to wait until the 70th minute for his goal following superb approach play from Neymar.
"I really liked the fact it was a team effort tonight, but Neymar was outstanding. He was just sensational, magnificent," Tuchel said. "You can sense that he’s hungry, that he wants to make the difference and win the ball back."
Red star coach Vladan Milojevic acknowledged his defence could not cope with Neymar.
"It wouldn’t be fair just to talk about Neymar, but everything revolved around him," Milojevic said. "He’s on another level."
After losing their opening group game to Liverpool, PSG played with the kind of intensity that has sometimes been lacking against weaker teams in past seasons, where it has failed to get beyond the quarterfinals of the competition despite huge expenditure on players and wages.
"It was a really top performance because we created a lot of chances. But also we won 71 per cent of our tackles in the first half, which was extraordinary," Tuchel said. "I was most pleased with the second half because we kept going."
Neymar, who scored twice in the French league last weekend, opened the scoring with his first free kick after 20 minutes. The Brazil star hardly took a run up and used his exquisite touch to perfectly flight the ball into the left corner.
Two minutes later, he added his second.
Swapping passes with Mbappe, he sprinted into the penalty area to meet the teenager’s quick cross from the right with a finish into the roof of the net.
Cavani beat two players before scoring with a deflected shot in the 37th, and Di Maria astutely guided in the fourth shortly before the break.
Neymar created the fifth in style.
He showed great close control to dribble to the edge of the area, and then cleverly flicked a ball over the defence. Left back Bernat read the pass and cut the ball back to give Mbappe an easy tap in.
After Mbappe missed a sitter — his second of the night — Red Star’s midfielder Marko Marin rifled a shot home in the 74th.
Neymar went off to a standing ovation with about 10 minutes left, just after curling in even better free kick into the top right corner.
Later Wednesday, Napoli hosted Liverpool in the other Group C game.
Red Star’s defeat could have been heavier but Mbappe, midfielder Adrien Rabiot — and even Neymar — all missed good chances.
PSG has won nine of 10 games this season, scoring 35 goals. But the 3-2 loss at Liverpool serves as a reminder it has trouble winning the big games.
Red Star last played in the European Cup in 1991 as holders, came through four qualifying rounds to reach the group stage and drew its opener 0-0 at home to Napoli.
"We had two players who had never played in the Champions League," Milojevic said. "If this (defeat) is what it takes to make us better, it will be worth it. We shouldn’t forget we were playing PSG, who are going for the Champions League."
Red Star’s fans were officially banned from travelling for this match and the next away game, after causing trouble during its playoff at Salzburg.
Still, quite a few managed to get tickets independently and sat among PSG fans at the Parc des Princes stadium.
A strong police presence was in place around the stadium to prevent any potential clashes — with both sides reputed for having hooligan elements among their supporters.
The Red Star fans made their presence heard when Marin scored, but there were no incidents between fans.
Schalke continues recovery with 1-0 win over LokomotivMOSCOW — Weston McKennie’s late header gave Schalke a 1-0 win over Lokomotiv Moscow in the Champions League on Wednesday as the German team continued to recover from a poor start to the season.
Neither team had much cutting edge as chances were missed on a wet night in Moscow, but McKennie made the difference in the 88th minute when the 20-year-old U.S. midfielder leapt unmarked at the far post to head in Yevhen Konoplyanka’s corner.
The win leaves Schalke with four points in Group D and is its second victory after a six-game winless run which included five straight defeats in the Bundesliga.
Playing its first Champions League home group game since 2003, Lokomotiv had the better of Schalke in the first half but its finishing was poor. The Russian champion recorded just one shot on target all game when Schalke keeper Ralf Faehrmann parried Dmitry Barinov’s shot from the edge of the penalty area in the 27th minute.
Lokomotiv has now lost its opening two Champions League games.
Porto hosts Galatasaray later Wednesday in the other Group D game.
SOCIALIZE IT →