Rio de Janeiro, April 22 (IANS) Footballer Neymar was hailed in Brazil as Paris Saint-Germain’s ‘executioner’ after his two goals against the French outfit guaranteed Barcelona’s passage into the Champions League semifinals.
The 23-year-old took his Champions League tally against Laurent Blanc’s team to five from four matches this season as Barcelona won 2-0 at Parc des Princes on Tuesday, completing a 5-1 aggregate victory in the quarterfinal, reports Xinhua.
“Neymar again showed that he likes to be the executioner of PSG,” Folha de S.Paulo newspaper said.
Neymar owed much of his man-of-the-match performance to Andres Iniesta and Daniel Alves. Iniesta set up the first goal after just 13 minutes when he ghosted past the hosts’ defence before playing a deft through pass to Neymar, who slid the ball into an empty net after rounding goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu.
The second came after his compatriot Alves swung in a precise cross that Neymar expertly nodded into the bottom corner.
“Neymar was gifted the goals by Iniesta and Alves,” Globoesporte said.
According to Estado de S.Paulo, the Brazilian allowed Barcelona to treat most of the match like a friendly.
“The fact he (Neymar) scored twice in the first 33 minutes, meant the rest of the game was like a luxury friendly for Barcelona. Barcelona began to play as if it were a training session, free of any worries,” the newspaper said.