February 28 – The world’s most expensive player has suffered a damaging injury at the worst possible time. Neymar’s fractured metatarsal and sprained ankle is expected to keep him out of action for at least six weeks meaning he will miss Paris St Germain’s all-important upcoming Champions League last-16 second leg tie against Real Madrid.
Neymar suffered the injury during Sunday’s 3-1 win over PSG’s arch-rivals Olympique de Marseille and was in tears as he was stretchered off.
His father said the damage was such that Neymar, who joined PSG for a world record £200 million fee from Barcelona last August, would definitely miss next week’s clash, the most important game of PSG’s entire season. Many pundits predicted that this would be the year when PSG finally land Europe’s top club prize but to do so they will have to claw back Real’s 3-1 lead from the first leg
“PSG know that they won’t have Neymar in the next few games and that they won’t have Neymar for the next six weeks at least,” Neymar’s father told ESPN Brasil.
But his comments contradicted those of Paris St Germain manager Unai Emery, who had said the 26-year old might actually feature in the season-defining encounter after scoring 28 goals already this season.
“Neymar wants to play every game – he’s focused on Real,” said Emery. “I think there’s a small chance that he’ll be ready for the match.”
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