Paris: Paris Saint-Germain coach Thomas Tuchel admitted Neymar's latest lavish birthday celebrations were a "distraction" at a key time in the season after the Brazilian helped the Ligue 1 leaders to a 5-0 win over nine-man Montpellier on Saturday. Neymar, with his hair dyed pink, shook off an injury scare and raged with the match officials while Pablo Sarabia, Angel Di Maria, Kylian Mbappe and Layvin Kurzawa all scored along with a Daniel Congre own goal as PSG went 13 points clear of Marseille at the top of the table.

On Sunday, the Brazilian is set to host a lavish party for his 28th birthday at a Parisian nightclub, despite his team playing again on Tuesday against Nantes. "It's a distraction, that's clear," said Tuchel. "I always want to protect my players, and if there are difficult things to talk about I prefer to say them internally. "These are distractions, and they give the impression we are not serious, not professional. But I don't really want to talk about it because then these things become big issues." Neymar warmed up with a shirt bearing the name of Kobe Bryant and the number 24 of the basketball star who was killed in a helicopter crash last weekend.