The story of Neymar and the knockout stages of the PSG Champions League is a trauma. The Brazilian had missed the last three Parisian meetings on injury at this stage of the competition. What give birth to a psychosis, that of seeing him once again miss this crucial course on which the club of the capital has been stranded for three seasons.
Between suspension and injury to the left thigh, the Parisian n ° 10 had already missed the first four European games of the season. His chondro-costal lesion which occurred in front of Montpellier (5-0) on February 1 therefore gave body to the specter of absence. A reflex fear in a club where the well-filled health record of the most expensive player in the world is the black novel which gives cold sweats to all the staff.
The shattering outing of Neymar on Tuesday evening after the Paris defeat, accusing the club of having left it in forced rest for four games, confirms the baroque character of everything related to the Brazilian. According to him, the choice was obviously dictated more by the fear of losing it than putting it in the best conditions to start a match of intensity like no other this season. "Unfortunately, it was not my choice," said Neymar to the microphones. It's a choice of the club, the doctors. They made this decision and I didn't like it. We had a lot of discussions around this because I wanted to play. I felt good but the club was afraid. In the end, it is I who suffer from it ”.
Neymar, a tweet to turn the page
This fear did not seem to frankly inhabit Thomas Tuchel. On several occasions during the seventeen days of Neymar's absence, the Parisian coach explained that he would like to use it but that the choice to prolong his convalescence was taken by the medical staff. A club entity with which relations have been very cold since the start of the season. Tuchel would have liked to have played "Ney" on February 9 against Lyon (4-2) then three days later in Dijon (6-1) in the quarterfinal of the Coupe de France. A version denied this Wednesday by the club which claims that the period of unavailability has always been estimated between 12 and 15 days or a scheduled resumption for the match in Dortmund. The risk of this kind of injury is indeed to worsen while playing and to cause a fracture. According to several concordant sources, the decision not to play Neymar to protect him from any risk of relapse before the Champions League came ultimately to Leonardo who aligned himself with the recommendations of the medical staff. "Yet he begged to play before," we slip in the entourage of the player. A new episode of tension after the standoff of the summer, finally won by "Leo" who refused the offer from Barcelona to recruit his former player. The latter sees in the sports director's decision both "a fear" of seeing him miss a decisive new match but also the explanation of his average performance in Germany.
Fé, foco e confiança em nós ... GO TO PSG 🔵🔴 pic.twitter.com/TLnIZgbbHq
- Neymar Jr (@neymarjr) February 19, 2020“It was very difficult to be able to play a match like this, intense, for 90 minutes. If I had been in better shape, I would have certainly made a better match, rages the Brazilian, who nevertheless hopes to regain his full potential by March 11 for the return match. I am sure that at home we will give 100% and I hope that we will qualify ”. This Wednesday afternoon, Neymar tried to turn the page of this controversy with a prayer-shaped tweet. "Faith, focus and self-confidence," he writes under a photo of himself at Signal Iduna Park. For confidence, we would however swear that it is a little more broken with Leonardo.