French Clubs

Barcelona will face Paris Saint-Germain and former striker Neymar while title holders Bayern Munich are up against Italy's Lazio in the last 16 of the Champions League after UEFA's draw was held on Monday.

The clash of Lionel Messi and Barça with last year's runners-up PSG is a repeat of their remarkable meeting at the same stage in 2017 when Barça overcame a 4-0 first leg loss to beat the French club 6-1 in Spain with Neymar scoring twice for the Catalans.

Lyon handed PSG a 1-0 loss at the Parc des Princes on Sunday to move into second place in Ligue 1 and send the home side down to third, but the result was much more devastating than that — Neymar was stretchered off in injury time after an awful tackle from Thiago Mendes that resulted in a straight red card.

Neymar donned a brand spanking new pair of boots made just for him by PUMA on Wednesday. He immediately scored a stunning hat trick against İstanbul Başakşehir. That’s how you justify a $30-million-per-year boot contract.

PSG and İstanbul Başakşehir players walked off the pitch to protest a fourth official’s alleged racist comment toward a Başakşehir assistant coach during their Champions League Group H match on Tuesday. The players refused to resume the match unless the fourth official was not involved, and without sufficient cover (UEFA needed the fourth official to at least help as a VAR), the match was suspended until Wednesday.

Confusion and anger swirled in the Parc des Princes during Paris Saint-Germain’s vital Champions League clash with Istanbul Basaksehir on Tuesday. Viewers watching from home were left Googling and searching on Twitter "why was PSG game suspended?" after watching all of the players exit the field in the first half.

In the 16th minute, Basaksehir’s assistant coach Pierre Webo was shown a straight red card after an argument broke out on the sideline. As Webo was being sent off he could be heard questioning the fourth official on why he used the word “negro.”

UEFA Champions League Group H has three teams level on nine points heading into next week’s final matchday after PSG defeated Manchester United 3-1 at Old Trafford on Wednesday. Neymar’s early goal was canceled out in the first half by Marcus Rashford, but PSG captain Marquinhos turned home a nice 69th-minute winner to hugely complicate things for United before Neymar’s late tap-in. 

By the standards of most clubs, second place in the Champions League group and a slim lead in the domestic table heading into December would represent an unqualified success. Alas, Paris Saint-Germain is not most clubs. 

PARIS — Paris St Germain handed Olympique Lyonnais their first women's first division defeat in almost four years when Marie-Antoinette Katoto earned them a 1-0 home win on Friday.

Katoto found the back of the net after 10 minutes to put PSG on top of the standings on 25 points from nine games, one ahead of Lyon, who had their 80-match unbeaten streak ended.