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The latest beef between PSG stars Kylian Mbappé and Neymar involves a battle to be the club’s main penalty taker, and it seemed to spill over onto the field against Montpellier.
In Saturday’s 5–2 win, Mbappé saw his first-half penalty saved before Neymar stepped to the spot for the club’s second attempt. Footage from the match showed the two discussing the second penalty before Neymar converted the attempt.
After the match, Neymar drew headlines for liking a tweet saying that he should be the club’s top penalty taker. According to Le Parisien, the drama led PSG football advisor Luís Campos to hold a meeting with the forwards to address the issue.
PSG manager Christophe Galtier has yet to appoint a top penalty taker, and confirmed that the players followed the game plan for the Montpellier match.
“For this match, the order was chosen thus,” Galtier said after the game, per AP. “Kylian shot first, so it was logical that Neymar went next. We’ll see in the future.”
It isn’t the first time that the two PSG stars have clashed. In October, Mbappé confirmed that he called Neymar “a bum” after the French international was subbed off in a win against Montpellier.
Meanwhile, it also isn’t the first time that Neymar has clashed with a PSG teammate over penalty kicks. Throughout the 2017-18 season, the Brazilian argued with Edinson Cavani over penalty responsibilities, including during a match with a 7–0 lead when Cavani needed one more goal to become PSG’s all-time leading scorer.
The penalty spat was only part of an eventful occasion for Mbappé. He was also visibly upset during a counterattack when PSG midfielder Vitinha opted not to pass the ball to him on the left wing—choosing instead to find Lionel Messi to his right—leading Mbappè to quit on the sequence and stop running altogether as he thew up his hands in frustration.
