The Parisians bid Korea farewell with a win!

For their last game ahead of a return to competitive action, Luis Enrique's side were making Club history by coming up against a team from a country they had never previously played: Korea. Two days after the game with Inter Milan, it was also a chance for the Paris Saint-Germain coach to put the finishing touches to his preparations: Marco Verratti was made captain, Ethan Mbappé made his maiden first-team start, and Neymar Jr made his return to the pitch.

With the local fans giving them incredible support, the Rouge-et-Bleu were given a real test by their Korean opponents, who are nearly 25 games into their league season. There was real intensity in the challenges and the pace of the match making for quite an evening of football.

With the attacking principles of their coach in mind, the Parisians sought to find a way through. Hugo Ekitike, who had already scored twice in pre-season, was the first to fire goalwards (10'). With possession the name of the game, chances were rare, but Ismaël Gharbi (17', 28') twice tried his luck without success. It took Neymar Jr to get things going. First, the Brazilian brought a good save from the goalkeeper (37') before opening the scoring by dribbling past a number of defenders and whipping a shot into the net at the near post (1-0, 40'). It was very nearly 2-0 at the break with the Paris number 10 providing Ekitike with an excellent opportunity he could not take (42'). 

After a well deserved break given the high temperatures, the Parisians - led by a very lively Neymar Jr - returned to the pitch with the clear intention of adding to the scoreline. To do that, Luis Enrique made nine changes in the last half-hour, keeping only Danilo Pereira and Neymar Jr on the pitch for the full 90 minutes. The latter rewarded his coach's patience by latching onto a Fabian Ruiz ball before firing in the second (2-0, 83').

To cap a fantastic individual performance, Neymar Jr then reprised his role as goal maker, backheeling brilliantly into the path of Marco Asensio who fired into the top corner for his first goal for the club (0-3, 87') as Luis Enrique's men wrapped up their Asian tours in style.