Celtic 0 PSG 5: Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Edinson Cavani (2) and a Mikael Lustig own goal give PSG huge win at Celtic
Champions League opener turns into a total nightmare for Brendan Rodgers' men as PSG run riot
PSG - whizz, they were good.
This goes down as Celtic’s worst ever home defeat in 122 years but the French side’s flair was awesome.
The most expensive strike-force in world football gave a priceless demonstration of their class.
£400million men Neymar, Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappe all scored as Brendan Rodgers side were outclassed.
There was nothing the Scottish champions could do about it.
Their Champions’ League group stage campaign got off to the toughest of starts in a thumping and humiliating defeat.
Throw in one moment of brain-dead madness from a supporter when he raced on to the pitch to swipe a kick at superstar Mbappe and this was one painful night.
The eyes of the world were watching, was what Rodgers told his players before kick-off.
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But by the end the Hoops boss wanted everyone to look away.
All Rodgers and his team could do at time up was recognise the quality of the opposition.
PSG played like potential winners of this competition.
Despite the way things went 18-year-old Anthony Ralston will never forget this occasion.
Time will tell what kind of career the kid is going to have in the game but this experience will only stand him in good stead.
Ralston went toe to toe with Brazilian superstar Neymar in what was ultimately an impossible task.
He refused to flinch and can hold his head high. Neymar’s touch, vision, movement and sheer skill were quite simply unstoppable.
Ralston had a couple of early attempts to slow him down, rattling into his man twice inside the first 15 minutes.
But it was nothing new to Neymar. Each time the former Barcelona genius got back to his feet, dusted himself down and quickly demanded the ball again.
There was pace and precision all over the pitch for PSG.
Thiago Motta cruised through the game in midfield and literally didn’t take more than two touches whenever he was on it.
Then there was little Marco Verratti, a gem of a player Celtic just couldn’t get near.
And yet despite all that, despite the clear gulf in class between these two teams, PSG’s opening goal was controversial.
Scott Sinclair was barged off the ball on the halfway line and should have been given a free-kick.
Italian referee Daniele Orsato didn’t give one, though, and the French giants broke forward to take the lead.
Neymar showed his clinical side by bursting away from Ralston and smashing past Craig Gordon on 19 minutes.
Soon things were going from bad to worse. The speed of PSG’s play was astonishing and there was nothing that Celtic could do about it.
Rodgers urged his men to take better care of the ball but they were hounded so much that they couldn’t.
PSG’s second goal came after 34 minutes, a Verratti cross from the right headed back into the danger zone by Neymar.
From close range Mbappe slammed past Gordon.
You hoped Celtic could batten down the hatches and get to half-time to regroup, but that was easier said than done.
PSG started to enjoy themselves, Neymar flicking and tricking his way forward down the left touchline and through the middle.
Then came goal No 3 after 39 minutes, Cavani scoring from the penalty spot after Jozo Simunovic brought the Uruguay striker down inside the box.
It was then that things turned really ugly.
Before the game could be restarted, an idiot Celtic supporter burst out of one of the stands and on to the pitch.
He made a beeline for Mbappe and swung a kick at him.
Thankfully he missed, with the France teenager side-stepping him like he was a rookie defender lunging in to make a wild tackle.
But the moment of madness is still certain to bring ramifications from UEFA.
In many ways the second half was a damage limitation exercise for Celtic, with the outcome already done and dusted.
There was simply no way PSG were going to leave Glasgow with anything other than three points.
But fair play to the Scottish champions — they refused to roll over when they could easily have done so.
Rodgers made one change at the break, with Stuart Armstrong taken off and replaced with Tom Rogic.
Oliver Ntcham should probably consider himself lucky that he wasn’t the midfielder hooked, given how off the pace he was.
But there was resilience in the way Celtic kept going. Ralston was booked for a crude challenge on Motta, the pumped-up youngster screaming at the crowd in defiance after being shown the yellow card.
