Twitter explodes as Neymar scores hat-trick in Champions League
Brazil international Neymar was the star of the show when Paris Saint-Germain recorded a huge victory over Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
The superstar attacker was in imperious form as Thomas Tuchel’s side romped to a massive 6-1 win over the Serbian side. Having lost their opening Champions League game against Liverpool two weeks ago, the Ligue 1 champions needed to make a statement and that was exactly what they did.
After enduring a frustrating outing in that 3-2 loss at Anfield, Neymar was back to his best and netted a sensational hat-trick cap off a fine performance.
The former Barcelona forward opened the scoring in the 20th minute following an expertly taken freekick. He doubled PSG’s lead two minutes later after combining well with Kylian Mbappe.
Neymar then completed his hat-trick in the 81st minute, after the likes of Edison Cavani, Mbappe and Di Maria has also gotten on the scoresheet.
The result means that PSG moves into top position in their group, albeit temporarily, until Liverpool plays against Napoli later in the night.
But more importantly for Neymar, his latest exploits put him on a par with the greatest players to ever play in Europe’s elite competition. The Brazilian star has now been directly involved in 49 goals in his last 49 Champions League games.
According to statistics by Squawka, the 26-year-old has scored 30 goals and assisted a further 19 in his Champions League career. He has also become the first player to score two free-kicks in a Champions League game since Cristiano Ronaldo in September 2009.
As expected, Neymar’s exploits against Red Star Belgrade have sent Twitter into a frenzy, with fans across the world sharing their views.
So without much ado, let’s take a look at some of the best tweets following Neymar’s hat-trick in the Champions League: