AN IRRESISTIBLE TRIO

Mark White picks out the three finest individual displays of 2025 — two of them came from the all-conquering PSG

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3 JOAO NEVES VS TOULOUSE

For Paris Saint-Germain in 2025, the stars aligned, fate converged and magic happened. A year of moment after moment, each unforgettable. Barcelona bittersweetheart Ousmane Dembele was relaunched as a French national treasure, but others sometimes shone even brighter under the spotlight, for one game at least.

In a Ligue 1 fixture on a baking hot August evening in Toulouse, the referee awarded four penalties, PSG won 6-3, yet the headlines belonged to Joao Neves, largely for what he did in the first 15 minutes. That’s what happens when a central midfielder scores two overhead kicks in quick succession.

The pint-sized Portuguese even had the taste for a third, rifling the ball top bins and wheeling away with three fingers raised to the fans: a little bit of Luis Figo circa Euro 2000, with a touch of Jose Mourinho at his most dastardly. Hat-tricks happen, but this was one of the most sublime in recent memory. Take a bow, Joao.

2 DECLAN RICE VS REAL MADRID