How one minute during the beating of Bayern Munich revealed the relationship between PSG's front three

The trio blew their visitors away in a 3-0 thumping, despite the obvious differences

The three worked together brilliantly on the pitch (Getty)

In the 27th minute of Paris Saint-Germain’s 3-0 evisceration of Bayern Munich, there was a moment that was far more compelling and so much richer in tension than this utterly one-sided Champions League game.

It was a moment that could almost serve as a mini-play such was what it potentially said about those involved and the feeling that it will be repeated again and again this season with ever cumulative meaning.

Kylian Mbappe was surging forward with the ball and the Bayern defence at his mercy, and with Edinson Cavani to his right but Neymar to his left. The teenager’s electric pace ensured the move could barely last a few seconds, but everything we knew about the relationships ensured that was still enough time to contemplate the consequences and significance of the striker’s choice, the potential for even more drama.

Would he go for the established team leader in Cavani or the new boy king in Neymar, the penalty taker and primary goalscorer or the main playmaker who so controversially wanted to take those penalties off him? Or would he just go it alone?

Mbappe’s own uncomplicated young personality and willingness to just play - not to mention his football intelligence - ultimately meant he picked Cavani. The Uruguayan looked to pick his spot but only put it wide, leading to Neymar looking rather sternly at his strike partners.

Such little interactions play out all the time in the competitive football, but it was impossible not to think it all meant so much more here because of everything we knew beforehand and everything that was still happening.

That similarly made it the kind of night where it was impossible not to watch out for such interactions, even if that was partly because PSG’s attacking trident were working so well together with the actual ball that they made the game uninteresting as a contest and just kept providing more and more of those moments; more attacks, more goals, more celebrations.

The trio were mesmerising in their fluidity (Getty)

It is one thing that has gone somewhat underplayed since the previous overwhelming victory against Celtic. This trio do complement each other with almost complete perfection on the football pitch.

They have the creator and playmaker in Neymar, the hunger for goals in a scorer like Cavani and then just the rampaging quality of a talent like Mbappe, with all of that turbo-boosted by so much energy and pace. Making it even more glorious to watch and so much more disorienting for defenders, there was also the way they can seemingly interchange in those roles, given that Mbappe was effectively the Neymar in that 27th-minute move and so many other moments throughout the game.

Part of that is also because it’s just impossible to stop a player as impressive as the teenager from just naturally taking control of the game anyway, and it is going to be very interesting how that develops, given the intrigue that saw Neymar come to PSG as the stand-out star in the first place. On Wednesday night, it was fine, even if there were a few little flashes like when the Brazilian so conspicuously waited for Mbappe before giving Cavani the most cursory of hugs when celebrating the Uruguayan’s goal.

There was also Neymar’s own reluctance to really kill the matter. He eventually came through the mixed zone after the game wearing a trench coat and cap, and did stop to talk - but not much. When asked about how this tension with Cavani had ultimately played out, Neymar just kept repeating that “it was sorted in the dressing room”.

There was a huge focus on Neymar and Cavani's dealings with each other (Getty)

It was also left hanging there in public.

Cavani wouldn’t really speak at all, but he has fronted up in other ways. For a player that has justifiably received criticism in his career and hasn’t always seemed the most reliable of finishers, it is difficult not to greatly respect his backbone and resilience here; how he hasn’t stood down in this.

It all admirably led to step-up in PSG’s performance, as Cavani scored the blockbusting strike that turned a mere lead over Bayern into a leading display.

That is the best way to respond to any such controversy, but still doesn’t mean it has finished it.

There is still so much to play out here, and so much to be dictated and conditioned by how they play together.

We're going to see that 27th minute played out a few times this season.