PSG vs Barca aftermath: Neymar face ban, Griezmann-Pique heated row, Suarez proved doubters wrong

Antoine Griezmann-Barcelona

The Champions League round of 16 games commenced last night with the heavyweight clash between Barcelona and PSG at home, with the latter one coming out as the winners. The result has sent shockwaves among the Blaugrana faithful as they couldn’t bear with another knockout debacle for the fourth straight season. From Kylian Mbappe taking the spotlight with a hat-trick to Ronald Koeman’s ” Barca is a club in progress” comments post the defeat, the consequences have been more than one could have expected. Here we take a look at some of them.

Neymar face suspension fears over sarcastic tweet

Neymar, who was a notable absentee due to injury in last night’s game, must have had a good time watching PSG thrash his former club. However, he looks to have poured cold water over his possible return to the second leg due to a controversial tweet. The Brazilian deemed Barcelona’s first penalty, which happened after the referee adjudged that Frenkie de Jong was tripped by Kurzawa, as a joke on his Twitter page before he deleted it soon. It could hand him a ban for two matches if UEFA finds him guilty of violating the disciplinary code.

Griezmann’s verbal spat with Pique

One of the most interesting things that happened during the defeat was the heated argument between Antoine Griezmann and Gerard Pique. When the scoreline was 1-1, the Spanish defender shouted at his teammates saying: Let’s have a long possession, for f**k’s sake. F**king hell! Let’s go. A f**king long possession!” shouted Pique at his teammates”

Griezmann’s reply: Griezmann replied: “Calm, Geri, stop shouting.” Pique couldn’t stop swearing at Griezmann as once again he replied: f**k you. We’re suffering and it’s been like this for five minutes.”

It would have been good if this explicit conversation had helped Barca restore their fighting spirit. But that wasn’t the case in the end.

Suarez delighted with his form to prove his critics wrong.

Luis Suarez has stated that is delighted with his current form at Atletico Madrid as he has been able to prove his doubters wrong. Suarez received a lot of stick for his dip in the performances at Barca last season, which eventually led to his exit in the summer. In reality, Barca made a serious mistake by selling him to Atletico as the Uruguayan turns out to be the driving force behind Diego Simeone‘s side, who are the current leaders of La Liga this season. Suarez, who is brimming with confidence after scoring 16 goals, has insisted that he can play at the top level for many years.

“Being at Atletico, you’re in football’s elite. Some people didn’t believe that I could still be at this level. I’ve got the same enthusiasm.

“I hope that this year, next year and for however many years it is, I keep competing and giving my best, until you realise that you’ve gone as far as you can.

“But no one will get rid of me. I’ll decide when I go.”