Neymar and Gianluigi Donnarumma were said to be separated after exchanging words in the Paris Saint-Germain dressing room following their team’s 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid on Wednesday, according to Marca.com.
They went on to state that the PSG teammates were in a panic after Gigio Donnarumma allegedly accused the Brazilian International of squandering a game that PSG was in command of with an arrogant gaffe.
The altercation apparently occurred when the Brazilian forward chastised PSG goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois for his role in Karim Benzema’s equalizer, in which Vinicius took advantage of a botched Donnarumma pass to draw Real Madrid level at 1-1.
Donnarumma allegedly informed Neymar that Real Madrid’s second goal occurred as a result of a mistake by the Brazil international, and the situation quickly deteriorated, with the two players almost coming to blows before being separated.
Neymar and Dona have both refuted the reports, with the PSG star sharing a WhatsApp communication with a link to the incident, and the shot-stopper disagreeing, claiming they didn’t have a brawl.
“It’s absolutely fake – we had no fight after the game”, Neymar added on Instagram. The story has been denied even on Donnarumma’s side.
The above reads:
“I hate coming here and talking about news…
But this one from the previous post is a lie. There was no fight inside the locker room!!!
Incompetent journalists who want to promote themselves, try the next one ok?”
According to renowned Sports Journalist Fabrizio Romano‘s internet report, Neymar flatly refuted the charges, and Donnarumma appeared to back him up.
The lone incident that happened after the game, was when PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi and sports director Leonardo stormed the referees’ room, accusing the officials of failing to give a foul on Donnarumma in the build-up to Real Madrid’s equalizer.
Al-Khelaifi is said to have threatened the referees, saying “I’ll kill you,” before police and security intervened to put a halt to the altercation.
Their chat above reads:
Neymar: “Ciao Ney, I’m sorry about yesterday. This news is unacceptable.”
Donnarumma: “Dude, calm down! That can happen in soccer… We are a team and we are with you. You are still very young and you are going to win a lot! get up and continue”
After a 1-0 victory in Paris, PSG was defeated 3-1. Al-Khelaifi and Leonardo were already zealous in the final stages of the encounter. They screamed and waved their arms violently in the final minutes. This enraged the Dutch referee team, which resulted in a brawl.
As said by Mark, Al-Khelaifi and Leonardo were ordered to leave by the assistant referee, but they refused. Al-Khelaifi is believed to have shattered the assistant referee’s flag. In Madrid, the line officials were Hesel Steigstra and Jan de Vries.
The fourth referee was Allard Lindhout. VAR was played by Paul van Buekel, who was assisted by Kevin Bloom. The Dutch referee’s decision to permit Real Madrid’s equalizer sparked outrage in Paris.
Under the pressure of Karim Benzema, goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma hesitated and kicked the ball away. Vinicius Junior took advantage of the PSG goalkeeper’s poor kick and placed it in front of Benzema, who scored a simple goal making the score 1-1.
