Neymar celebrated his upcoming 28th birthday with a lavish party at Parisian nightclub Yoyo on Sunday.
Paris St-Germain manager Thomas Tuchel skipped the white-themed party under the Palais de Tokyo, after branding it “a distraction”, with the event coming just two days before their next game.
It appeared to be a sentiment not shared by the Brazilian’s team-mates and celebrity pals however, with Edinson Cavani, Marco Verratti and Angel di Maria embracing the dress code and injured Lyon winger Memphis Depay sporting a pair of £1,200 boots.
Serial party host Neymar is well known for his extravagant get-togethers, but it was reported that Neymar would rein in his celebrations this year before his actual birthday on Wednesday.
He threw a ‘Nuit Rouge’ themed event for his 27th birthday for around 200 guests, while he welcomed in his 26th birthday with a black tie event attended by Lewis Hamilton and the president of Brazil.
Sunday’s bash came a day after PSG’s bad-tempered 5-0 victory against Montpellier, that was notable for incidents involving a pink-haired Neymar and team-mate Kylian Mbappe.
Neymar shrugged off an injury scare, taunted the opposition with his signature tricks and raged at the officials.
Mbappe, 21, reacted angrily to being substituted midway through the second half.
“These are distractions, and they give the impression we are not serious, not professional,” said Tuchel, in his post-match comments when discussing Neymar’s party.
But on Monday, he denied he had a personal issue with Neymar.
“It’s my choice not to participate in the party,” Tuchel said. “It’s a choice as a coach; it’s not against Neymar personally.”
Mbappe appeared to skip the party all together, instead opting to watch the Kansas City Chiefs win the Super Bowl after attending an event at Disneyland Paris.
Maybe he couldn’t find anything white to wear…
