PSG's Neymar charged for rant after Champions League loss

Paris (AFP) – Neymar was charged by UEFA on Friday for making “insulting” comments about the match officials following Paris Saint-Germain’s shock Champions League loss to Manchester United.

The Brazil forward missed the 3-1 second-leg defeat in the last 16 earlier this month through injury, but told match officials “to go fuck yourselves” on social media after watching on from the sidelines at the Parc des Princes.

The 27-year-old was angry with the award of a decisive injury-time penalty which Marcus Rashford scored to send United through.

UEFA said he had been charged, with the date of his hearing yet to be confirmed.

Neymar could face a ban from the early stages of next season’s Champions League.

In June, Neymar’s teammate Gianluigi Buffon was handed a three-match suspension after a tirade against referee Michael Oliver following his former club Juventus’ similarly dramatic quarter-final defeat by Real Madrid last season.

“It’s a disgrace. They get four guys who don’t understand football to watch a slow motion replay in front of the TV,” Neymar wrote in Portuguese on Instagram after the game.

The Premier League giants were given the spot-kick after Presnel Kimpembe was judged to have handled Diogo Dalot’s shot.

Neymar was reportedly so enraged by the decision to give the penalty that he had to be restrained by PSG staff to stop him entering their dressing room.

PSG made Neymar the world’s most expensive player in 2017 by signing him from Barcelona as they stepped up their bid to win a maiden Champions League title, but have now lost in the last 16 in three straight seasons.