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Celtic 0 - Paris Saint-Germain 5: Celts stunned by Neymar and star strikers
THE WORLD’S most expensive strike-force proved far too rich for Celtic as Paris Saint-Germain put five past them in their Champions League opener.
Celtic suffered an embarrassing loss
PSG’s £200million man Neymar opened the scoring and fellow new boy Kylian Mbappe added to the tally before Edinson Cavani’s double – one from the penalty spot – and a Mikael Lustig own goal compounded the hosts’ misery.
The French champions looked in a league of their own as Brendan Rodgers’ battlers suffered their worst European loss at Parkhead. It was the first time Celtic have lost five at home since 1895.
The Qatari-backed multi-millionaires were a class apart and Celtic’s evening of misery was complete when a fan ran on to the pitch and aimed a kick at Mbappe, which is sure to lead to disciplinary proceedings from UEFA.
It was a night when the Group B heavyweights flexed their muscles, with Bayern Munich also winning 3-0 at home to Anderlecht. That puts the pressure on Celtic as they look to take something from their trip to Brussels in a fortnight.
We were too passive for some reason, we just stood off and weren’t aggressive enough
Hoops boss Rodgers admitted his side had not started the game in a positive fashion.
He said: “We were too passive for some reason, we just stood off and weren’t aggressive enough.
“It’s easy to go and play when you are 3-0 down but in the second half we were much better.”
Rodgers paid tribute to PSG’s quality. He said: “That’s the top level of world football you’ve seen there this evening. Right across the pitch. They have a phenomenal squad.”
Celtic captain Scott Brown admitted: “We’re disappointed with the result, but PSG are a great team. We’ll pick ourselves up and bounce back.”