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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Sport
Dylan Terry

Neymar: French press criticise ‘astonishing waste’ after PSG crash out of Champions League

Photograph: EPA

Neymar has borne the brunt of the criticism after Paris Saint-Germain were dumped out of the Champions League on Tuesday night.

Manchester City secured a first trip to the final after two Riyad Mahrez goals secured a 4-1 aggregate victory over the Ligue 1 champions.

With Kylian Mbappe absent injured much of the focus was on Neymar to turn things around after their 2-1 first-leg defeat, but he was unable to sufficiently impact proceedings sparking heavy criticism in the French press.

L’Equipe have labelled the Brazilian an “astonishing waste” and a “total disaster” before marking him 3 out of 10 in their notoriously hard to please player ratings.

Full-back Alessandro Florenzi was given the same rating as Neymar, while ineffectual striker Mauro Icardi received a 2/10.

By contrast, matchwinner Mahrez was the paper’s man of the match following his two vital goals.

France Football also weighed in heavily on Neymar following a really poor showing at the Etihad.

They said: “Was it really necessary to take six touches every time he was on the ball? Neymar revealed his dark side against Manchester City. He wanted to do everything on his own.

“The centre of the world in his own eyes, he disgusted his team-mates by serving them much too rarely… Carried away by his emotions again, Neymar was catastrophic.”

Neymar remains the most expensive footballer of all-time after his transfer from Barcelona cost PSG £198million in 2017.

Since arriving at the club, he has scored 85 goals in 112 games and won the league title in each of his three seasons.

However, PSG face a major fight for the Ligue 1 crown this time around as they currently sit one point behind table toppers Lille with just three games remaining.

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