Neymar has taken to Instagram in the wake of Paris Saint-Germain's Champions League elimination by Manchester United, going on a foul-mouthed rant about referees that could yet land him in hot water with Uefa.
The Brazilian superstar has been out for some time with an injury that had ruled him out of both legs of this tie long ago, but his hopes of returning for the quarter-finals were killed when Marcus Rashford converted a late, late penalty after VAR intervened to punish Presnel Kimpembe for handball.
PSG were stunned by the decision of referee Damir Skomina at the time, but Neymar's post-match rant went way beyond the anger of his teammates in conducting their post-match media duties.
“This is a disgrace, they put four people that know nothing about football in charge of looking at the replay for VAR," he said.
"There is no penalty. How can it be a handball when it hits his back?! Go f**k yourselves!”
Neymar was brought to Paris in a £200m deal with the idea of elevating the Ligue 1 champions into the continental elite, but while PSG can go toe-to-toe with any club in the transfer market they have acquired an unfortunate knack of humiliating Champions League exits.
PSG boss Thomas Tuchel defended Neymar after his outburst was read to the German in the post-match press conference.
“Of course it’s a strong reaction, he was at the field.
"Sometimes after a big fight you use words and reaction emotionally that you take back some hours later. He wanted to come back with us in the quarter-finals and he’s been biting his nails at every game we’ve played, so don’t be too hard with him. I wouldn’t over-interpret the use of his words. In the heat of the moment, it’s quickly typed into a smart phone.”
In a curious twist, both round-of-16 ties on Wednesday night were settled by penalties awarded by VAR.
Porto converted a penalty awarded following a video review three minutes from the end of extra time to beat AS Roma 3-1 and reach the quarter-finals.
Fernando went down as he tried to meet Maxi Pereira's low shot across the face of the goal and, after studying the pitchside monitor, the referee judged that his shirt had been tugged by Alessandro Florenzi.
Alex Telles emphatically converted the spot kick to give Porto a 4-3 aggregate win and heap further pressure on Roma coach Eusebio Di Francesco, who Italian media said before the match was fighting to keep his job.
