Balotelli laughs off rumours he would unveil Rashford t-shirt with goal at PSG

Marseille forward Mario Balotelli has reacted angrily to reports he planned to unveil a t-shirt with Marcus Rashford’s face on it had he scored against Paris Saint-Germain.

Various reports — notably including Canal+’s pitchside reporter Olivier Tallaron — had claimed the Italy international was wearing a t-shirt with the Manchester United forward’s face emblazoned on it for the clash against the league leaders at the Parc des Princes.

However, the ex-Manchester City man took to social media to dismiss the suggestion — branding it “a lie” and “bulls—,” before warning the media to “stop creating fake stories over me.”

Tallaron, the main source of the controversy, pointed out the fact that he was not the only reporter to have seen the same thing on the night, with Marseille local newspaper Le Phoceen and L’Equipe also reporting similar — while some even suggested it was a Rashford mask rather than t-shirt.

Although Balotelli’s supposed stunt did not work out, he did still antagonise PSG’s upset ultras by pointing to the star on the Marseille shirt denoting their Champions League success back in 1992-93.

The gesture particularly upset the home fans, given their recent exit at the Champions League round-of-16 stage after losing 3-1 at home to Manchester United, with Rashford scoring the decisive goal from the penalty spot in injury time.

PSG ran out comfortable winners over 10-man Marseille, with Angel Di Maria scoring twice and Kylian Mbappe adding another before the France international had a late penalty saved by substitute Yohann Pele.

Valere Germain had briefly drawn Marseille level on the night.’