Arrogant Neymar needs to treat Cavani and his team-mates with respect

The Brazilian tried to snatch penalty duties off of his PSG colleague, sparking a battle that threatens to undermine their Champions League challenge

“It’s my ball and you’re not getting it,” Dani Alves seemed to say as he pushed team-mate Edinson Cavani away from a free kick at the edge of the Lyon box before sliding it around his body to allow international team-mate Neymar to try his luck. 

The subsequent effort was disappointing. It crashed into the defensive wall before being cleared but the battleground had been set for more to come.

When Paris Saint-Germain were awarded a penalty shortly after taking the lead, this time it was Cavani’s turn to triumph in an unseemly wrestle over possession with the world’s most expensive player. From the spot, he was just as unsuccessful as his team-mate had been earlier in the half, albeit denied by a fine save from Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes, who pushed his effort onto the bar.

These were scenes not even worthy of the amateur ranks. It was like watching school children squabble in a playground kickabout, in which the biggest, coolest, most popular kid invariably comes out on top in the long term.

That kid in the schoolyard of the Parc des Princes is undoubtedly Neymar, who has bewitched PSG fans the world over since arriving from Barcelona early in August. Over 120,000 shirts bearing his name have reportedly been sold and there is a threat of manufacturers Nike being unable to keep up with demand. A shortage until November is feared.

Even the unseemly sight of him effectively bullying Cavani will do little to dissuade PSG fans of his virtues - five goals in six games since arriving have seen to that, while the Uruguayan’s propensity to miss big chances at big moments means that he has never claimed the adoration expected of a striker so prolific and industrious. 

Cavani has been the established penalty-taker for Paris since the departure of Zlatan Ibrahimovic. He had taken all three of PSG’s previous spot-kicks, including one against Celtic in the Champions League five days earlier. He had succeeded with them all.

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