PARIS // Paris Saint-Germain were left fuming on Saturday after midfielder Thiago Motta was left with a fractured nose following a bust-up in the tunnel at the end of their Ligue 1 clash with SC Bastia.
Images from surveillance cameras in the tunnel at the Parc des Princes, obtained by several local media outlets, appeared to show Bastia’s Brazilian forward Brandao waiting for Motta to approach him before headbutting the Brazil-born Italy international.
Scroll down to see video clip from the incident
A mass altercation then ensued, and PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi told beIN Sports that Motta’s nose had been fractured in the incident.
Al-Khelaifi also called for serious action to be taken against Brandao, the 34-year-old former Marseille player.
“I hope that the Bastia player who did that is very severely punished. A heavy punishment is required,” he said.
Meanwhile, PSG’s Brazilian captain Thiago Silva, who is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury, used his Instagram account to attack Brandao.
“I want to know how many matches this guy will be suspended for...a guy who is always disloyal!! Who always wants to talk instead of play,” wrote Silva, who in May last year was suspended for shoving a referee during a Ligue 1 match against Valenciennes.
“If I got three matches two years ago for touching the referee...Imagine an assault like that?? The fourth official saw everything, I was by his side when this guy attacked our player.”
PSG coach Laurent Blanc also accused Brandao of being responsible for the injury that forced full-back Gregory Van der Wiel to come off at half-time of the game, which the reigning champions won 2-0.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic came off injured, after apparently straining a muscle in his side, after just 14 minutes of the match against the Corsicans, before goals from Lucas and Edinson Cavani gave PSG their first Ligue 1 win of the campaign.
Ibrahimovic injured in PSG win over Bastia
An injury to Zlatan Ibrahimovic and a post-match incident that left Thiago Motta with a fractured nose overshadowed Paris Saint-Germain’s 2-0 victory against SC Bastia at the Parc des Princes on Saturday.
Ibrahimovic appeared to strain a muscle in his side in innocuous fashion early on, and lasted barely 15 minutes before making way for Ezequiel Lavezzi.
In his absence, Lucas opened the scoring in the 26th minute and Edinson Cavani doubled PSG’s advantage just before the hour mark to score his first of the campaign and give PSG their first victory in Ligue 1 after last weekend’s 2-2 draw at Reims.
But at full-time, Motta, who was wearing the captain’s armband after Ibrahimovic’s withdrawal, was headbutted by Bastia’s Brazilian striker Brandao, leaving him with a fractured nose and sparking a mass altercation.
PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi called for Brandao to be “severely punished”, while coach Laurent Blanc was left hoping that the injury to Ibrahimovic is nothing serious.
“At first I thought he had taken a knock, but no, it was as he was turning that he hurt himself in the side. It is a strange injury,” said Blanc of Ibrahimovic.
“I am not a doctor. I don’t know if it is serious, but knowing Ibra, for him not to finish the match the pain must have been quite intense.”
Bastia had never beaten PSG away from home in the top flight but they were optimistic of springing a surprise thanks to the influence of their new coach Claude Makelele, the former Paris captain who gave up his role as assistant coach at the Parc des Princes to take over in Corsica this summer.
French Ligue 1 results and fixtures:
Saturday
Paris Saint-Germain 2 (Lucas 26, Cavani 57) SC Bastia 0
Lens 0 Guingamp 1 (Douniama 90+3)
Lorient 0 Nice 0
Metz 1 (Ngbakoto 12-pen) Nantes 1 (Veretout 3)
Rennes 6 (Toivonen 7, 56, Mexer 40, 43, Ntep 76, 86) Evian 2 (Wass 35, 82)
Toulouse 2 (Akpa-Akpro 9, Ben Yedder 45) Lyon 1 (Lacazette 76)
Sunday
Marseille v Montpellier, 7pm (UAE time)
Saint-Etienne v Reims, 7pm
Bordeaux v Monaco, 11pm
Follow our sports coverage on twitter at @SprtNationalUAE