Paris Saint-Germain were defeated 3-1 by Real Madrid at the Bernabeu this week in the first leg of their last-16 Champions League clash, with Neymar coming in for some stick.
The Brazilian wasn’t able to help his side secure victory in a game that they will rightly unfortunate to have lost, as they enjoyed plenty of dangerous moments to take a strong advantage back to the French capital.
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Instead, having been wasteful and succumbing to a late Madrid barrage, they have it all to do in the second leg, albeit it’s far from over.
Neymar was one of the PSG players to receive criticism in the game, not least because he’s a leading figure for the Ligue 1 giants and so he’s expected to do more but also because he simply didn’t play particularly well. From wrong decision making to being wasteful with his attempts on goal, it just wasn’t his night.
It seems as though his father isn’t having any of the criticism though, as he has posted a lengthy retort to the critics in his Instagram post below.
“In a war there are those who feed off victories and those who, like vultures, feed off the carcasses of the defeated,” he posted, as translated by the Daily Mail.
“My son has been battling since he was a child, always fighting fair, always avoiding the vultures, always rising again stronger. We lost a battle but as for the war, we’ll see, because it will last as long as we’re on the field.
“And be sure … like a phoenix he will be reborn, prepared for all the fighting ahead! As for you, vulture, you will be hungry. And there will be nothing left to swallow his words, as rotten as carcasses.”
It’s a pretty extraordinary rant, but for all his words, it will be down to his son to show in the second leg that he’s capable of silencing the critics on the pitch which is where it all ultimately matters for PSG and Neymar in terms of their hopes of keeping their Champions League dream alive this season.
Neymar has scored 28 goals and provided 17 assists in 28 games so far this season, which shouldn’t give too much ground for deserved criticism. However, it’s the big games like against Madrid where it will all matter for him to showcase his quality.