France gets feisty as PSG lose opening two games

The headline FIVE red cards from PSG’s loss to Marseille last night undoubtedly caught the eye, but aside from the downright alleged nastiness from Alvaro Gonzalez to Neymar, there’s plenty of intrigue as France, for once, looks exciting.

The story began soon after PSG’s Champions League final loss to Bayern Munich, where, after multiple warnings not to by the French football association (FFF), the majority of PSG’s squad decided to travel to Ibiza for some wind down time.

To the shock of no one, Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Angel Di Maria, Leandro Paredes, Mauro Icardi, Marquinhos and Keylor Navas all tested positive for coronavirus, and despite pleas to postpone their opening game against newly promoted Lens, PSG had to field a team largely of reserves, and somehow managed lose 1-0.

Three days later, with Neymar, Di Maria and Paredes back in the fold, Thomas Tuchal’s Paris faced Andre Villas-Boas’ Marseille last night, and after two former Premier League entertainers, Dimitri Payet and Florian Thauvin, linked up for Marseille’s and the game’s only goal, tensions flared wildly.

Neymar has accused Marseille’s Spanish defender, Alvaro Gonzalez of racial abuse, while a skirmish between the two, and plenty of others, saw five red cards dished out for Neymar, Jordan Amavi, Parades, Dario Benedetto and Layvin Kurzawa.

Things got heated on the touchline too, with Villas-Boas taking three points off PSG for a six point advantage in the table, he’s decided mind games are the best way to continue to mount the near-impossible task of defeating football’s richest club...

"Normal insults – you're s***, no, you are s*** yourself," Villas-Boas said about their bust up.

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"He told me I played lottery tonight, I told him he played lottery too against Atalanta. Fair enough. I have a huge respect for him, I appreciate what he does."

"Obviously PSG wait for a cup, the Champions League, you can't invest $1.5billion and not win the Champions League," he said.

"Ancelotti was here, now he is coaching Everton. Emery was here, now he is coaching Villarreal. It's hard, waiting for the Champions League.”

There was also plenty of entertainment elsewhere in Ligue 1, with Brest’s Irvin scoring one of the most aesthetically pleasing volleys you’ll ever seen in his side’s 2-0 win over Dijon.

Un but 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙦𝙪𝙚 ! ☄

🎙 Léo Rozé (@Francebleubzh)#TeamPirates 🏴‍☠️ #DFCOSB29 0⃣-2⃣ pic.twitter.com/jpVvDGp4t4

— Stade Brestois 29 (@SB29) September 14, 2020