Neymar planned to mock Erling Haaland after PSG’s Champions League game with Borussia Dortmund in advance, according to his teammate Marquinhos.
The two teams were drawn against each other in the last 16 of this campaign’s competition, with the first leg taking place at Westfalenstadion.
Dortmund secured a 2-1 win in front of their own fans thanks to a brace from Haaland, who celebrated scoring by adopting a meditation pose on one side of the pitch.
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Neymar, who scored PSG’s only goal of the match, was motivated for revenge in the second leg in Paris, after a photo emerged on social media of Haaland in Paris with the caption: “My city, not yours.”
The Brazilian inspired an impressive turnaround for Thomas Tuchel’s side at Parc des Princes on March 11, opening the scoring in a game which was played behind closed doors due to the rising number of coronavirus cases around Europe at the time.
Neymar imitated Haaland’s celebration for the cameras, and his club went on to qualify for the quarter-finals with a 3-2 aggregate victory after Juan Bernat doubled their advantage on the stroke of half-time.
The French champions celebrated wildly after the final whistle despite the absence of supporters in the stadium, and Neymar led the team in a mass-group photo copying Haaland’s pose once again.
The 28-year-old posted an image of himself on Instagram celebrating in one final dig at the Dortmund striker, accompanied with his own “Paris is our city, not yours” caption.
Marquinhos says Neymar’s actions were planned, admitting that the fromer Barcelona man is not one to avoid any possible confrontations.
“He likes that. Neymar is not just a football player, he is not afraid and always responds to provocations,” the 25-year-old revealed during an interview with YouTube channel Desimpedidos.
“After his goal, I asked him if he had taken everything out. He warned me, I told him to wait until the end of the match, but he told me to leave it and not to stop it.”
UEFA issued PSG with a formal warning for “unsportsmanlike conduct” after the game, but the French club avoided a fine.
