Thomas Tuchel has hailed a ‘very strong’ Celtic side after Paris Saint-Germain put on a finishing masterclass during Tuesday’s 4-0 friendly win in France, speaking to the Daily Record.
When Kylian Mbappe tore through a flimsy Hoops defence like wet tissue paper just 50 seconds after kick-off before steering a clinical finish past Scott Bain, the Glasgow giants must have feared a repeat of that 7-1 Champions League thrashing from three years ago.
In the end, PSG were forced to settle for just the four goals as they stepped up their preparations for Friday’s Coupe de France final against St Etienne.
Celtic had beaten Lyon and drew with Nice last week but they were no match for Tuchel’s star-studded team with Ander Herrera, Pablo Sarabia and the £200 million Neymar getting on the scoresheet either side of half-time.
But the former Borussia Dortmund boss was taking nothing for granted against a Celtic side who sealed their ninth successive Scottish Premiership title recently.
“I’m happy, we did some serious things, with no conceded goals and four goals scored. It was the last phase of the preparation against a very strong team, against whom it is not easy to play against. I am happy,” Tuchel said.
“By giving 45 minutes to all the players, we prepared in the best possible way. The goal was to arrive without injury with fresh legs and head.”
Neymar quite simply cruised through the game, a flick here, a no-look pass there.
He did find himself on the wrong side of Celtic coach Neil Lennon at full-time however, with an unhelpful combination of showboating and relentless whining leading the Northern Irishman to label him ‘infuriating’.
Fortunately, Celtic will not be coming up against many players as talented as Brazil’s number ten over the next few months.
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