“Stick to goalkeeping!”
Neymar orchestrated a stunning comeback for Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night against Atalanta, as PSG scored two late goals to win 2-1 and reach the semi-finals for the first time since their Qatari owners took over.
The Brazilian played a key role in both goals, assisting Marquinhos’ equaliser and playing a neatly threaded pass in behind to Kylian Mbappe who squared the ball to Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting to complete the comeback. It was a dagger through the hearts of Atalanta and showed a mental resilience not previously seen in this PSG side.
But Neymar’s first half performance drew a lot of criticism, basically because he missed a one-on-one chance in the opening minutes and had very little help in the attacking third until Mbappe came on.
Former Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel was one of those critics, while doing punditry for American network CBS Sports.
Jamie Carragher was also on the panel but took an opposing view on Neymar’s display.
When the winning goal went in, Carragher celebrated it as if it were a Liverpool goal, screaming at the top if his lungs before exclaiming: “What’s Neymar done now, Schmeichel?! Only set the two of them up!”
“Stick to goalkeeping!” he added.
I’d advise you to turn your volume down a bit before playing this, by the way. You’ll soon see – or hear -why.
"What's Neymar done now @Pschmeichel1?!… Stick to goalkeeping"@Carra23 liked that game-winning goal just a bit… 😂 pic.twitter.com/XF2ojtKchg
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) August 12, 2020
PSG will now play the winner of Thursday night’s game between RB Leipzig vs Atletico Madrid in the semi-finals. Only Atletico have reached the final from that side of the draw but have not won the trophy.
With the revised structure of the knock-out rounds meaning there is only one match rather than two legs, previously unfancied teams will fancy their chances in a one-off 90 minute encounter.
If PSG manage to win two more matches to lift the trophy, Neymar’s time in Paris might even be seen as a success.
