Erling Haaland Finally Hits Back At Neymar After PSG Players Mocked His Meditation Celebration

Erling Haaland has brushed aside Neymar mocking his meditation celebration and instead thanked the Paris Saint-Germain superstar for helping him spread an important message.

The 19-year-old Norwegian wonderkid made a scintillating start to life at Borussia Dortmund after the German club signed him in January.

Haaland scored twice against PSG in Dortmund's 2-1 victory in the first leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie in February.

But a fake Snapchat picture started to circulate that showed the Dortmund striker poking fun at the French club, with 'my city, not yours' and 'Paris' handwritten across his jumper.

PSG defeated Dortmund 2-0 in the return leg and Neymar, who scored the opener, mocked Haaland by doing his meditation pose.

Haaland, who was snapped up for £17.1m from RB Salzburg, has finally broken his silence and admitted he wasn't unhappy at his celebration being mocked.

When asked if PSG players' antics left him upset, the former RB Salzburg striker told ESPN: "No, not really.

"I think they helped me a lot to get meditation out in the world and to show the whole world that meditation is an important thing so I'm thankful that they helped me with that."

PSG players were heavily criticised for collectively trolling Haaland after Dortmund were knocked out of the Champions League.

The players also continued their brutal mocking of Haaland by doing his celebration in the dressing room.

Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker slammed PSG's behaviour at the time and called them out for poking fun at a 19-year-old.

"Lack of class. He's 19 for crying out loud," the former England international wrote on Twitter.

Neymar took to Instagram and posted a photo of him doing Haaland's celebration and wrote: "P A R I S our city, not yours."

PSG were crowned Ligue 1 champions on Thursday after the season was forced to end early due to the coronavirus pandemic.

However, PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has confirmed the club will continue to play in the Champions League this season even if home matches are held abroad.

Featured Image Credit: PA/Instagram/BT Sport

Topics: Football News, Paris Saint-Germain, Football, Ligue 1, PSG, Erling Haaland, Neymar, Borussia Dortmund, Champions League, Bundesliga

Adnan Riaz

Adnan Riaz is a journalist for SPORTbible. He studied for a B.A. in History at the University of York and followed it up with an M.A. in Multimedia Journalism at MMU. Before he started writing about sports, he spent over four years in the gaming press. He has worked for several publications, including Hardcore Gamer, LADbible and the Manchester Evening News. Follow him on Twitter to find out what he is working on next. Got a story tip for Adnan? Email him: [email protected]

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