The beautiful game of football was put to shame when players from two top French teams -- Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille -- fought during a Ligue 1 match in Paris early Monday morning. (More Football News)
The match witnessed referee Jerome Brisard dishing out red cards like confetti following a stoppage-time brawl at Parc des Princes. Neymar was among those sent off, for hitting Alvaro, who the Brazil superstar accused of racism.
But after the match, Marseille head coach Andre Villas-Boas claimed, according to reports, that PSG winger Angel Di Maria had spat on one of his players.
VIDEO: Football Put To Shame
Then video footage of di Maria apparently spitting at Alvaro surfaced on social media. The incident, coupled with the reported racism involving Neymar and Alvaro, has become one of the biggest talking points even as the world of sports slowly tries to find a foothold in the COVID-19 world.
Both Neymar and di Maria were returning to action after recovering from coronavirus.
Florian Thauvin's first-half goal was enough for Marseille to end a 20-game winless run against PSG in the fiery Le Classique.
Villas-Boas also revealed that he had exchanged words with PSG boss Thomas Tuchel, who has overseen back-to-back losses to begin the 2020-21 Ligue 1 season.
"Normal insults – you're a s***, no, you are a s*** yourself," Villas-Boas told a news conference.
"He told me I played lottery tonight, I told him he played lottery too against Atalanta [in last season's Champions League quarter-finals].
"Fair enough. I have a huge respect for him, I appreciate what he does."
PSG needed two late goals to beat Atalanta in August before they fell to Bayern Munich in the decider.
ALSO READ: PSG 0-1 Marseille - Match Report
Villas-Boas said the pressure was on Tuchel to deliver a Champions League title to PSG.
"Obviously PSG wait for a cup, the Champions League, you can't invest $1.5billion and not win the Champions League," he said.
"[Carlo] Ancelotti was here, now he is coaching Everton. [Unai] Emery was here, now he is coaching Villarreal. It's hard. They wait [for] the Champions League.
"I appreciate him. They play well, defend well and aggressively. I told him, 'Unfortunately I can't play like you'. But I really like him."
