Forget MSN, here's MCN - Mbappe, Cavani and Neymar
Football's most expensively assembled trident showed their prowess to help Paris Saint-Germain begin their Champions League Group B campaign with a 5-0 thrashing of hosts Celtic yesterday morning (Singapore time).
Kylian Mbappe, Edinson Cavani and Neymar all scored as the French side ran riot in Glasgow's Celtic Park.
French newspaper L'Equipe toasted the MCN trio on its cover, hailing them as Le Park des Princes (Princes of the Park), which is a play on both the venue Celtic Park and their Paris home stadium Parc des Princes.
Brazilian Neymar, previously part of the famous Barcelona MSN front trio which also includes Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, continued to pay back his 222-million-euro (S$358 million) world-record transfer fee .
The 25-year-old Neymar scored his fifth goal in five games to put PSG in front before setting up fellow recruit and the world's second-most expensive player Mbappe to make it 2-0.
Cavani then converted from the penalty spot five minutes before the break.
Mikael Lustig's 83rd-minute own goal and Cavani's angled header two minutes later heaped more misery on the Scottish champions, who were charged by Uefa after a fan ran onto the pitch to aim a kick at Mbappe during the first half.
The emphatic win was also a statement of intent from the big spenders who are determined to make a bigger impact on Europe's elite club competition.
The heavy defeat prompted Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers to remark that his side resembled a schoolboys' team.
He said: "Defensively, we were just too far off them and I was also disappointed in how we retained the ball... We played like under-12s at times."
In the other Group B game, Bayern Munich defeated 10-man Anderlecht 3-0 with goals by Robert Lewandowski (penalty), Thiago Alcantara and Joshua Kimmich.
But the match was marred by Bayern forward Franck Ribery's fit of anger.
Having picked up an early booking for arguing with the referee, Ribery was taken off with 12 minutes left when he hurled his jersey at the bench.
"Ribery has been here long enough now. He is emotional, but you can't throw your shirt on the bench like that," ex-Bayern and Germany captain Matthaeus told Sky.
Bayern coach Carlo Ancelotti said he will talk to Ribery about it. - WIRE SERVICES
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