Paris St-Germain 7-1 Celtic
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Celtic were swept aside by rampant Paris St-Germain, who hit seven in the Champions League at Parc de Princes.
Brendan Rodgers' side opened the scoring in the first minute through Moussa Dembele, but were then swamped.
Neymar scored twice, then created the third for Edinson Cavani, before Kylian Mbappe struck before half-time.
Marco Verratti, Cavani and Dani Alves scored in a five-minute second-half blitz as Rodgers' Celtic side conceded seven goals for the second time.
The victory was PSG's biggest win in the Champions League, and a chastening night for the visitors, who lost 5-0 to the French side at home earlier in the group.
However the Scottish champions still have the advantage in the fight to finish third in Group B and qualify for the Europa League after bottom-placed Anderlecht lost their fifth game in a row, this time 2-1 to Bayern Munich.
PSG have scored 24 goals in their five matches - a Champions League group stage record, with one game still to play.
The Parc des Princes was a blaze of colour before kick off, with the home fans especially noisy and no doubt confident of what their team would produce, given PSG were yet to concede a goal in their previous four group games.
However the match was less than a minute old when Celtic spoiled that particular record.
Alves' poor backpass resulted in a corner for Celtic, and the visitors took full advantage when Olivier Ntcham played a low ball to Dembele at the edge of the area, and the striker clipped a shot over PSG goalkeeper Alphonse Areola.
It was a moment for the travelling fans to savour, but PSG were soon back on level terms.
Adrien Rabiot showed his class in midfield, intercepting Scott Brown's wayward pass then shrugging off the Celtic captain before sending Neymar surging into the Celtic penalty area.
The world's most expensive player showed his worth and his pace as he beat Craig Gordon in the Celtic goal with a low shot.
As the French side moved up through the gears, Celtic's cause wasn't helped when they lost defender Mikael Lustig through injury after 12 minutes, the Swede being replaced by midfielder Nir Bitton.
PSG's talent was now buzzing and after Neymar's neat one-two with Verratti on the edge of the box, the Brazil striker finished brilliantly.
Celtic were not coping well with the waves of PSG attacks and it felt only a matter of time before the third followed.
Cavani duly took advantage of poor Celtic defending and fired in his 20th of the season, after Neymar turned the ball across the face of goal with his upper body.
Half an hour had not yet past and sublime PSG had already found the net three times.
Further punishment followed more slack Celtic defending as half-time approached. A free-kick wasn't cleared, and Mbappe was left unmarked to beat Gordon with a firm finish back across the goalkeeper.
Celtic minds were scrambled but half-time offered the chance to regain their senses, and early in the second half, Dembele even had a sniff of a chance when fed cleverly by Brown.
Celtic's enterprise was short-lived, though, as PSG continued their assault.
Verratti slammed the ball past Gordon from the edge of the area and then Cavani added his second of the night four minutes later with a stunning volley after a wonderful Javier Pastore cross.
Celtic's pain wasn't over. Alves delivered the final blow, gathering the ball 20 yards out then whipping a shot beyond Gordon's reach, high into the far corner of the net.
A night that had started so euphorically for the visitors had ended in despair.
- Published6 December 2017
- Published20 November 2017