Christophe Galtier, the head coach of Paris Saint-Germain, has clarified that Neymar spoke with Kylian Mbappe prior to taking the penalty in their most recent game against Monaco last weekend.
Galtier claimed that Mbappe and Neymar were the PSG team’s top two options for taking penalties.
He said this while explaining the order of penalty takers at PSG following reports of differences between Mbappe and Neymar on the matter.
PSG went behind through Kevin Volland’s strike in the 20th minute. However, PSG had numerous opportunities throughout the game but had to wait until the 70th minute to draw even.
Neymar was fouled in the box by Monaco’s Guillermo Maripan and after a VAR check, a penalty was awarded.
The Brazilian international had a brief conversation with Mbappe and then proceeded to take the penalty and score.
After the game, Galtier was asked why Neymar took the penalty over Mbappe and he replied (via PSGhub): “The decision was Mbappe number 1 and Ney number 2 on this match, I saw they discussed and Ney shot it, and scored, Kylian congratulated him.”