PARIS (Dispatches) - Neymar insisted he had been the victim of racism as he was one of five players sent off in a mass brawl at the end of Marseille’s 1-0 win over Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain.
PSG’s Brazilian star appeared to accuse Alvaro Gonzalez of calling him a "monkey” in a series of furious tweets after he was sent off in injury time for slapping the Marseille defender on the back of the head.
"Look at the racism. That’s why I hit him,” Neymar, who was returning from coronavirus quarantine, said as he left the pitch. Gonzalez later denied making a racist comment.
"The only regret I have is not hitting this idiot in the face,” Neymar, the world’s most expensive player, tweeted after the game.
Neymar was red-carded after a VAR review, while teammates Layvin Kurzawa and Leandro Paredes were also sent off. Marseille striker Dario Benedetto and defender Jordan Amavi were also expelled.
Florian Thauvin’s close-range volley on 31 minutes earned Marseille a first victory over their bitter rivals since November 2011 but the ugly scenes overshadowed the game at Parc des Princes.
Neymar "told me it was a racist insult, but I didn’t hear anything on the pitch”, PSG coach Thomas Tuchel said.