Neymar will miss the next month of action after picking up an injury in a cup match for Paris Saint-Germain against Caen according to a report in Diario AS. This is significant as it impacts both legs of PSG’s Champions League last 16 clash with Neymar’s former club, Barcelona.
The Brazilian wasn’t happy, taking to social media to vent his frustrations. “The sadness is great, the pain is immense and the crying is constant,” he wrote. “Once again I will stop for a while from doing what I love the most in my life, which is football.
“It saddens me a lot to have to listen to a player, coach, commentator or whatever the hell say ‘they really have to hit him’, ‘he falls down a lot’, ‘crybaby’, ‘spoiled’ and all that. Honestly it saddens me and I don’t know how much longer I can hold out. I just want to be happy playing football. Nothing else.”
Neymar will be PSG’s second important absence following the news that Angel Di Maria will be unavailable for the first leg against Barcelona. Juan Bernat is also a long-term absentee.
It won’t be the first time Neymar will have missed a key Champions League knockout game. He didn’t play the second leg against Real Madrid in 2018, or the entire tie against Manchester United the following year. Likewise, his 2018 World Cup campaign with Brazil was also disrupted by injury.
Barcelona’s meeting with PSG has taken on a whole new purpose given the volume and frequency people associated with the Parisian club have vocalised how they want Lionel Messi to join them in the French capital. A mouthwatering clash has become a true grudge match.
