Neymar’s first couple of months at Paris Saint-Germain were marred by an unnecessary controversy. The Brazilian forward provided top performances in all competitions, but many were more attached to the penalty drama between him and Edinson Cavani.
In short, the two aimed to take hold of the penalty kick duties for PSG, but neither wanted to budge and hand off the responsibilities to the other player. For one, this drama was on full display during a fixture between PSG and Olympique Lyonnais.
This controversy later became a non-story over the latter half of the season. But for many, there was some concern over whether this issue between the two players would grow into a major problem.
Marquinhos had a front-row seat to watch the slight disagreements that the two often had over this matter. However, the Brazilian defender did not see much of an issue between the two. The PSG center-back took some time to speak to ESPN Brasil about “penalty-gate.”
“It really is a story that everyone knows and everyone has seen, but this is common in football, a lot of things happen in the heat of the game,” Marquinhos said. “We know their qualities, both are qualified to hit a penalty. Sometimes, it happened on a day that may have been more stressful, but just as they had the problem, they were both men enough to solve the problem.”
The two forwards would later go on to share the penalty kick responsibilities until Cavani’s last season with the club when it was clear that Neymar was the most reliable player on the team for the role.
Want more PSG? Visit the PSG Talk Podcast Network page and subscribe to PSG Talking, The 1970, and 24th & Parc.
