As Celtic beat Hamilton 4-1 on Friday night, thanks to goals from Stuart Armstrong, Scott Sinclair, and new Frenchman Odsonne Edouard, PSG were beating Metz 5-1.
That sounds a lot more impressive than it actually was. Edinson Cavani put PSG ahead, before Emmanuel Rivière equalised, and the former Newcastle United player should have made it 2-1 to Metz but instead made it one of the worst misses of the season, or any season.
Metz and PSG then fought against each other with not much happening, Cavani missed chances, none as good as Rivière’s, and the Paris side weren’t having things their own way. That is until Benoît Assou-Ekotto was sent off for what looked a brilliant tackle on Kylian Mbappe.
Mbappe, recovering incredibly quickly from his multiple rolls, scored within a few minutes. Philippe Hinschberger, Metz’s furious manager, was then sent off, Neymar scored, and within 10 minutes or so the well matched game had turned into a circus show.
French newspaper L’Equipe have handed out big praise in their ratings to several PSG players, but it doesn’t match the actual game, and Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers will be relieved when getting around to watching the performance after first seeing the scoreline.
Now PSG eyes turn towards Glasgow, and L’Equipe have the club’s travel plans. PSG don’t plan to train at Celtic Park, and will arrive in Scotland around 24 hours before the match, the minimum UEFA requirement.
PSG’s U19 team will travel on the same plane as the senior squad, with L’Equipe, completely without tongue-in-cheek, saying that’s partly to save money. After making their ‘savings on transport’, PSG’s near 90 strong travelling contingent will check into Glasgow’s Radisson Blu.
Angel Di Maria won’t be available, out for 2 weeks with a hamstring injury.
