November 23, 2024

PSG vs. Basaksehir score: A day later Neymar dominates for PSG in restarted UEFA Champions League match

Neymar #Neymar

Paris Saint-Germain secured top spot in Champions League Group H in style with a 5-1 thrashing of Istanbul Basaksehir on Wednesday.

However, the pre, mid and post-match focus at Parc des Princes was the fact that the game restarted on Wednesday after Tuesday’s walk-off due to alleged racism from a member of the Romanian refereeing team towards a member of the Turkish team’s staff — not the action.

Neymar, Kylian Mbape and their teammates all took a knee and raised their fists in solidarity with Pierre Webo before kick-off and then went on to rout Basaksehir with the Brazil international scoring a hat-trick and the Frenchman adding two.

Coupled with RB Leipzig’s 3-2 home win over Manchester United on Tuesday night, PSG finished at the top of Group H with the Germans second via head-to-head as both ended up with 12 points.

Here are some takeaways.

A historic evening

Whichever way you look at the events from Tuesday night, history was written by Basaksehir and PSG’s players by leaving the pitch and nothing will ever change that.

For both sets of players to leave the pitch is such a high-profile game feels like a watershed moment for Champions League football and global football writ large.

That the finger of blame was pointed at an official — not a member of the crowd nor an opponent — leaves UEFA with no choice but to take some sort of action at the end of the investigation they have just opened.

Because of Tuesday, the world is waiting to see how European football’s governing body combats the threat of such a scene ever repeating itself.

Neymar is PSG’s talisman

Once the football got back underway in the French capital, Neymar wasted no time in underlining his status as PSG’s talisman.

The Brazilian hit a splendid hat-trick, including a delightful opener, to add to his penalty at home to Leipzig and his double away at Manchester United.

Neymar’s outstanding form makes him the French giants’ key man more than ever and is the culmination of hints that we have seen against the likes of Liverpool, Borussia Dortmund and Atalanta in the past.

Nobody will want to come up against Neymar and PSG in this current form.

Mbappe’s goal drought ends

Mbappe’s year-long Champions League goal drought is over after his penalty and tap-in

Neymar was unselfish in allowing the France international to convert from the spot to make it 3-0 after Mitchel Bakker’s goal was overturned and the 21-year-old added the easiest second from one of Angel Di Maria’s two assists off the bench.

Mbappe hit 100 PSG goals in Montpellier over the weekend and the confidence was visibly flowing after his brace here.

Goal scoring record for Neymar

In scoring twice, Mbappe has also set a new record as the youngest player to reach 20 Champions League goals.

His double comes at an important time for PSG as they now enter the knockout phase as one of the form teams in this edition.

To have Neymar and Mbappe back in scoring form makes them even more of a threat to whoever they are drawn against in the round of 16 next week.

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