Brazilian star Neymar will be out of action for next month after picking up an injury in a cup match for Paris Saint-Germain against Caen, according to a report in Diario AS, and this significantly impacts both legs of PSG’s Champions League last 16 clash with Neymar’s former club, Barcelona.
Unhappy with his situation, the Brazilian took 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.”
Apart from Neymar, Angel Di Maria will also be unavailable for the first leg against Barcelona, besides Juan Bernat who is also a long-term absentee.
This won’t be the first time Neymar will have missed a key Champions League knockout game as ge 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 Champions League clash with PSG has taken on a whole new meaning and purpose in direct proportion to chatter associated with key members in the Parisian club who have been vocal about how they want Lionel Messi to join the Parisienne club.
So much so that what has been anticipated as a mouthwatering clash has become a true grudge match.
With Neymar absent, ironically.