At the Parc des Princes
"We need him, it is absolutely necessary that he play, that he be on the pitch, because he has the capacity, the confidence, the quality and the experience", said Thomas Tuchel of Neymar, before facing Leipzig.
And to add: “He is a key player for us.
If he is in the best capacity, the best physical condition?
No, that's not possible.
But he will start the meeting.
He can handle matches like that physically and mentally.
I hope it's not too much on (his shoulders), that we will help him, that we will work for him and that he will not be alone. "
Except that it was ultimately "a bit too much" for Neymar, for this Neymar, the one we saw 90 minutes on the meadow against Leipzig.
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Certainly, the Brazilian scored in the 11th minute.
His first goal in the Champions League since ... the return match against Dortmund (2-0), before the first confinement.
And above all, the only goal of the meeting on Tuesday (1-0)!
A penalty very generously awarded by Mr. Makkelie for an imaginary foul on Angel Di Maria, that "Ney" transformed with the coolness that we know him in this exercise.
For the rest, he was not a great Neymar.
An understatement.
Obviously, he is not the only Parisian not to have shone.
But given the importance he has in the Parisian game and his qualities, it is more sensitive when it is he who misses.
In fact, it is even a burden for PSG.
Not an asset anyway.
36 - Neymar is now the 3rd best South American scorer in the Champions League with 36 goals, only beaten by Lionel Messi (118) and Sergio Agüero (40).
Podium.
pic.twitter.com/cjQOsVUV5l
- OptaJean (@OptaJean) November 24, 2020
Bad choice and technical waste
The figures are quite telling: if he hit twice (including the penalty) and gave three last passes before a shot, that he was heckled by the players of Leipzig (7 faults suffered), the former Barcelona lost 28 of his 74 balls (!) And only managed 66.7% of his passes.
Above all, he accumulated bad choices, regularly embarking on series of dribbling at best useless, at worst dangerous because in areas that put his defense in great difficulty.
Waste too, like this failed control in the area after a good job from Kylian Mbappé (15th).
The Neymar that we don't like, who slows down the game by keeping the pressure on, who forgets to play simple, not in the direction of the game. And he is often like that when he is not at the top physically.
Let us give back to Caesar what belongs to him, he did not pretend in the races and the efforts.
Annoying all the same.
And annoyed too.
As he was not succeeding much of what he was undertaking and that the Paris-SG was generally in the rough, the old nugget of Santos got angry.
The Leipzig players understood this well and tried to push him even further into the fault.
He hung on several times with the Red Bulls, while he had taken a yellow on a foul before half-time (40th).
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"We are affected if Ney or Kylian do not score," Tuchel said before the game.
It has a big impact on our results.
It's clear.
They are decisive guys and I hope they can score tomorrow. ”
And to continue: "Now it is up to him (Mbappé) to be decisive, with Ney."
In this case, Neymar was, not a ghostly Mbappé and who remains in eight matches without scoring in C1.
The two superstars were paired with Angel Di Maria up front at kickoff, in a 4-3-3, with lots of permutations, but no one to act as a fixation point.
They were then abandoned to their fate when Tuchel chose to move to three behind, taking out Di Maria shortly after the hour mark.
Need for playing time and rhythm
In his defense, the Brazilian came back from injury and “lacked rhythm”, as his coach said.
Hit in the thigh at the end of October in Istanbul (2-0 victory), he made a round trip to Brazil with the Seleçao, without being able to play, before returning to Paris.
Tuchel made him return for half an hour to Monaco last Friday (3-2 defeat).
Obviously, those 30 (bad) minutes were not enough to restart the machine.
No miracle.
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Of course, Neymar's talent did not fly away.
And when he is in full possession of his means, he will once again become the brilliant player he has always been.
It remains to be hoped that this moment will arrive in time for PSG.
If they won a first final on Tuesday, the capital's players will have another to play next Wednesday, at Old Trafford, against Manchester United, before hosting Istanbul Basaksehir the following week.
In the meantime, the champions of France will collide with Bordeaux (next Saturday in Paris) and Montpellier (December 5, in La Mosson).
Program loaded.
Good news ?
If certain elements stick out their tongue and are in great need of rest, Neymar, he needs to save playing time to be on top.
And due to various physical problems, this has not often been the case since the start of the season ...
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