Christophe Galtier has held talks with Neymar after a photograph emerged of the Paris Saint-Germain forward in a fast-food outlet – the day after Kylian Mbappe implored team-mates to eat healthily.
PSG head coach Galtier noted Neymar played in a poker tournament on Wednesday and visited a McDonald's branch with friends.
It came at a point when PSG's season has reached crisis point, with three damaging defeats in succession putting Galtier under pressure.
There was criticism of Neymar on social media when a picture of his trip out emerged. It appeared a day after a 1-0 home defeat to Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie, a result that followed a Coupe de France loss to Marseille and a Ligue 1 setback at Monaco.
Notably, it followed Mbappe telling team-mates "everyone has to eat well and sleep well" to be in prime shape for the March 8 second leg in Munich.
Galtier explained how Mbappe's message in a television interview was the same instruction he had delivered in the Parc des Princes dressing room.
"He spoke with real maturity and determination so that everybody stayed focused, and I am pleased that he said that," Galtier said.
"I am not going to make connections between Kylian's words in the dressing room with a photo of Neymar in a fast-food restaurant.
"I have spoken to Ney. I told him what I thought. Neymar has the right on his day off, his recovery day. He likes playing poker, and he has the right to play poker. I told him what I thought about the photo, and that will stay between him and me.
"But I don't think there is any need to make a connection between what Kylian Mbappe said and the photo."
Mbappe was only a substitute against Bayern as he returned from an injury lay-off. He came off the bench and twice had the ball in the net, but offside judgements denied the hosts an equaliser.
PSG play Lille in Ligue 1 on Sunday, and Galtier indicated Mbappe will be in the starting line-up.
"We need to win this weekend," Galtier said. "We have a better chance of winning if Kylian Mbappe is playing than without him, so he will play."
Luis Enrique confident in free-scoring PSG despite Ramos setback
Paris Saint-Germain head coach Luis Enrique is confident his players can adapt in the absence of Goncalo Ramos to continue their impressive start to the season.
PSG have taken to life without Kylian Mbappe with ease, scoring 10 goals in their first two Ligue 1 fixtures, equalling their highest tally after two games played (also in 2022-23).
The Parisiens have welcomed four new faces during the transfer window, signing Joao Neves, Desire Doue, William Pacho and Matvei Safonov.
Luis Enrique was dealt a blow, however, in PSG's opener against Le Harve, with striker Ramos forced off with an injury that will cause him to miss three months.
But in his absence, Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembele have starred in front of goal, with Luis Enrique now focused on bringing the best out of the players available.
"We want to sign players, and their prices were very high. I have the players I have, I'm happy with their level, now I have to develop their potential," Luis Enrique said.
"As a nine, we can play with [Marco] Asensio, Dembele, Randal Kolo Muani, Barcola, Ramos, Warren [Zaire-Emery], [Achraf] Hakimi, Vitinha, Fabian [Ruiz], Neves... that's 10. It's the same with the defenders.
"I've got some very versatile players, which fits in with the plan we wanted for this team. Pacho, Doue and Neves — they can play in lots of different roles... so I have a lot of options in my team."
PSG will seek to claim an elusive Champions League trophy once again this season, but have been handed a difficult draw in the competition's new league phase.
Luis Enrique's side will face Girona in their first game in the competition, but will also square off against European heavyweights Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Atletico Madrid.
"My impression of the draw is that it's a new competition, a new format," Luis Enrique said.
"It's obvious that statistically we were the least favoured but I can't judge this competition because we don't know it.
"We'll say that this is a competition that we're going to try out and we've been the least lucky."
Brentford 3-1 Southampton: Bees begin life after Toney with comfortable win
Brentford began life without Ivan Toney with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Southampton.
Bryan Mbeumo’s brace and a Yoane Wissa goal proved to be the difference between the two sides and condemned the Saints to their third straight loss since promotion back to the Premier League.
With departed striker Toney watching in the stands after his move to Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, the hosts proved too strong for Russell Martin’s men. They created the superior chances and capitalised on an error-strewn performance from Southampton’s backline.
Mbeumo opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time before doubling the lead halfway through the second period and Wissa then got on the scoresheet moments later to continue Brentford’s strong start to the campaign. Yukinari Sugawara bagged a consolation in injury time for the Saints.
Brentford sit in fifth place ahead of the first international break, while Southampton are second-bottom of the league table with zero points.
Data debrief: Wissa continues to prove effective at home
Wissa now has five goals and two assists in his last seven matches at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Brentford have recorded consecutive home league wins for the first time since last November, and the first time in their opening home games since August 2018.
Brentford 3-1 Southampton: Bees begin life without Toney with comfortable win
Brentford began life without Ivan Toney with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Southampton.
Bryan Mbeumo’s brace and a Yoane Wissa goal proved to be the difference between the two sides and condemned the Saints to their third straight loss since promotion back to the Premier League.
With departed striker Toney watching in the stands after his move to Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, the hosts proved too strong for Russell Martin’s men. They created the superior chances and capitalised on an error-strewn performance from Southampton’s backline.
Mbeumo opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time before doubling the lead halfway through the second period and Wissa then got on the scoresheet moments later to continue Brentford’s strong start to the campaign. Yukinari Sugawara bagged a consolation in injury time for the Saints.
Brentford sit in fifth place ahead of the first international break, while Southampton are second-bottom of the league table with zero points.
Data debrief: Wissa continues to prove effective at home
Wissa now has five goals and two assists in his last seven matches at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Brentford have recorded consecutive home league wins for the first time since last November, and the first time in their opening home games since August 2018.
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