It was an ordinary Saturday for Neymar. The Brazilian superstar was likely in the midst of a killer hangover after his wild “Neymarpalooza” New Year’s Eve bash. All was normal when suddenly a cold shiver ran down his spine. Something was horribly awry.
French champion Paris Saint-Germain has named former Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino as its new head coach after sacking Thomas Tuchel, with the Argentine signing a deal until June 2022, the Ligue 1 club said on Saturday.
Pochettino, who played for PSG as a defender in the early 2000s and also captained the side, has been out of a job since being dismissed by Spurs in November 2019, a few months after guiding the north London club to the Champions League final.
RIO DE JANEIRO — An end-of-year party for 150 people attended by Brazilian soccer star Neymar is drawing scrutiny from local prosecutors, but the town where it is being held said on Wednesday it cannot do anything to prevent the bash from taking place.
In the 79th-minute of Sunday’s top-of-the-table clash between Lille and Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1, a PSG corner kick quickly transitioned into a Lille counterattack going the other way. Faced with a four-on-one, center back Presnel Kimpembe produced one of the most spectacular tackles you’ll ever see.
After drifting toward Timothy Weah on the ball, Kimpembe quickly reacted to his pass inside, read Burak Yılmaz’s intention and acrobatically put an end to his run on the stretch — Kimpembe obliterated him with the toes of his left foot.
No one can argue that 2020 has been an awful year that we all want to put behind us. But before we look ahead 2021, we have to take a minute to appreciate how sports have provided something resembling normality in recent months.
Considering the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been incredibly lucky to have soccer leagues playing regularly since June.
Neymar was never out of the headlines while at Barcelona and his departure continues to leave ripples at the Catalan club, so all eyes will be on him when Paris Saint-Germain meet the LaLiga side in the Champions League last 16 early next year.
Barcelona will face Paris Saint-Germain and former striker Neymar while title holders Bayern Munich are up against Italy's Lazio in the last 16 of the Champions League after UEFA's draw was held on Monday.
The clash of Lionel Messi and Barça with last year's runners-up PSG is a repeat of their remarkable meeting at the same stage in 2017 when Barça overcame a 4-0 first leg loss to beat the French club 6-1 in Spain with Neymar scoring twice for the Catalans.
Lyon handed PSG a 1-0 loss at the Parc des Princes on Sunday to move into second place in Ligue 1 and send the home side down to third, but the result was much more devastating than that — Neymar was stretchered off in injury time after an awful tackle from Thiago Mendes that resulted in a straight red card.
Neymar donned a brand spanking new pair of boots made just for him by PUMA on Wednesday. He immediately scored a stunning hat trick against İstanbul Başakşehir. That’s how you justify a $30-million-per-year boot contract.