A package that hurts. PSG will not be able to count on Neymar for their shock return against Bayern Munich in the Champions League. The Brazilian striker, hit in the right ankle on February 19 in Ligue 1 against Lille, will have to have surgery. The operation will take place "in the next few days" in Doha. Neymar will be absent from the pitch for "three to four months", the Parisian club announced on Monday. This diagnosis puts an end to his season, according to the club, while PSG's last match in Ligue 1 is scheduled for June 3.
When he ended up on the ground against Lille, the PSG medical staff immediately became very worried. Neymar "has had several episodes of right ankle instability in recent years" and "Paris Saint-Germain medical staff have recommended ligament repair surgery to avoid a major risk of recurrence," it said in a statement. communicated the club of the capital.
The Brazilian had been hit in the same right ankle in the first match of the seleçao at the 2022 World Cup against Serbia, before returning only for the round of 16.
This long unavailability of Neymar brings back bad memories at PSG, which has already been often deprived of the Brazilian in the past due to injury before major deadlines and which plays a large part of its season Wednesday in the knockout stages of the Champions League on the lawn of Bayern Munich.
He injured his foot before a Champions League round of 16 second leg against Real Madrid in 2018. In 2019, "Ney" missed the knockout stages against Manchester United and, in 2021, he was injured again, in the left adductor, before a duel against his former club, FC Barcelona, still at this stage of the competition. "To tell you that Ney's absence is trivial, no. He is one of the best passers in Ligue 1 and it is still a detrimental absence for us,” PSG coach Christophe Galtier said of the Brazilian on Friday.
Neymar had had an excellent first part of the season with the World Cup in sight, before seeing his trajectory shattered in Qatar. After the immense disappointment felt following the elimination of Brazil in the quarter-finals against Croatia, he had appeared much less successful on the grounds of Ligue 1 and less sovereign physically before being seriously injured against Lille.
