The footballing world held its breath on Sunday evening when Paris Saint-Germain superstar Neymar left the Parc des Princes pitch on a stretcher.

The Brazilian forward was in floods of tears and there was genuine fear that the injury he had picked up in the 3-0 win over Marseille may even keep him out of the World Cup.

Thankfully, it appears the €222m summer signing has only sprained his ankle and may even be fit for PSG's crucial Champions League fixture at home to Real Madrid on March 6 - they trail 3-1 from the first leg.

Neymar was once again at the peak of his powers in Le Classique, terrorising Marseille's defence for the entire time he was on the pitch, picking up two assists.

And, like in a lot of games throughout his career, Neymar was clearly the subject of some rough treatment from his opponents.

In the video below, you can see just how Rudi Garcia's side targeted the enigmatic Brazilian.

VIDEO: NEYMAR'S TREATMENT IN LE CLASSIQUE

Not nice and it also turns out that former West Ham star Dimitri Payet was at the heart of it all, given what he said to the referee during the match.

French radio station RMC claimed Payet told referee Benoit Bastien: “Tell Neymar to calm down or we are going to take care of him.”

A disgraceful reaction to any player on a football pitch.

PSG captain Thiago Silva also came out and said that Payet showed some serious animosity towards Neymar.

“It's a shame," Silva said. "Payet said to the referee that he wanted to hurt. That is not football.”

Not good, not good at all. Fellow Marseille player Jordan Amavi - who was once at Aston Villa - came out and spoke about Neymar as well, confirming that him and his teammates were not happy with Neymar's play acting.

“We play normally but he looks for the foul," he said.

"That is what I see on the pitch – he waits for us to close him down and he lets the ball go at the last moment. So what does he expect? I think he looks for a bit. Everyone knows he has talent but he throws himself a bit easily."

A rather ugly situation, one which thankfully didn't end in one of the world's best players picking up a serious injury.