Four days before the Champions League match against Dortmund, uncertainty still hangs over a possible absence of Neymar. But what if it was only a bluff from the PSG to disrupt his opponent?
This is the sports editorial by Virginie Phulpin. Will Neymar play with Paris St Germain in the Champions League against Dortmund in 4 days? The Brazilian is or was injured, and PSG has a little doubt about his participation. For you, the club mainly plays to dramatize the situation, and it can be profitable.
The first reaction is to say "no but it's not true, is it happening again?" PSG does not play the Champions League but participates in the groundhog festival. Do you remember that movie "An Endless Day", where Bill Murray relives the same day over and over? There, for Parisians, the alarm rings in February and everything is put back in place as in previous years. The anguish of a premature elimination, the pervasive shadow of the ascents, and the wounds of Neymar.
I immediately reassure Leonardo, the sports director who talks about negativity around the club, that's not it. But since he is in Paris, Neymar has only played one match in the knockout stages of this Champions League, out of 4 possible. So we have the right to have some apprehensions ... What if PSG had not recruited a Brazilian, but an Arlesian?
It starts quickly, an anxiety attack, in a supporter. And what caused this sneaky little concern around the Neymar case? The sentence of coach Thomas Tuchel who confessed not to know if his player would be ready to play on Tuesday. So we ask ourselves 2 seconds, and we tell ourselves that he cannot have said these words without thinking. And if he did it on purpose, that changes everything.
It looks more like a bluff, actually
I could be wrong, obviously, but it looks strangely like that. And it's very good. First because it would mean that Neymar could play, he also trained normally yesterday. And also that the PSG has grown a little. Communication is part of football at this level, it is useless to be choosy. Do you think that the big European clubs do not use this kind of subterfuge? We will plunge back 7 years back. 2013 Champions League quarter-finals, PSG / FC Barcelona.
On the outward journey, no 2 anywhere in the Parc des Princes. Before the return match, Lionel Messi is injured. What did the Catalans do? They made sure we only talked about that. The match is coming, Messi is on the bench. The Parisians dominate and lead 1 to 0. The qualification reaches out to them. And then Lionel Messi enters, and it changes to the atmosphere in the stadium. We focused so much on his absence that before he even touched the ball, PSG lost all means.
Hop, equalization, Barça qualifies, goodbye gentlemen. It can work, bluffing. And there, with Neymar, everyone would salute the Parisian know-how. We are not there yet but it can be profitable.