Less than a week before the Champions League hit against FC Barcelona, French champions Paris Saint-Germain are worried about the use of their superstar Neymar. The Brazilian injured himself in the Coupe de France on Wednesday evening against the underdog SM Caen (1-0) and had to be replaced in the middle of the second half.
After two harder fouls within a short time, Neymar held his left thigh after about an hour with a painful face. In the 64th minute, the striker couldn’t go any further, he went straight from the field into the cabin. Substitute player Kylian Mbappe, usually his strike partner, replaced Neymar.
“He has a pain in his thigh. We’ll see on Thursday if it’s an injury or not,” said coach Mauricio Pochettino. Before his injury, Neymar had played the 1-0 through Moise Kean (49th). Ex-world champion Julian Draxler was in the starting line-up on Wednesday evening, as was Thilo Kehrer.
Neymar’s recent injury comes at an inopportune time for Pochettino. On February 16, last year’s finalist will face FC Barcelona in the first leg of the first leg of the premier class. The second leg in Paris is scheduled for March 10th.
Should Neymar fail against his ex-club, it would be all the more bitter as he repeatedly missed major games in his career due to injury. A metatarsal fracture cost him, for example, the Champions League round of 16 against Real Madrid in the 2017/18 season and due to a similar injury he was absent from the duel with Manchester United in January 2019.
Neymar, who moved from Barca to PSG in 2017 for a world record transfer of € 222 million, has made 17 competitive appearances this season. He scored 13 goals and five assists.
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