Paris (AFP)
Sacred "king" on his arrival in Paris before even winning the European crown, Neymar owes revenge to PSG: go from executioner of the traumatic "Ascension" to hero of the camera against Dortmund, Wednesday (9:00 pm) in 8th Champions League final return.
See Neymar operational in March in Paris? Unheard of since the "transfer of the century" in summer 2017! For the past two seasons, the most expensive player in history (222 million euros) has grown accustomed to spending the third month of the year in Brazil, his right foot in the cast while awaiting a long recovery. The fault of two serious injuries.
But at the time of approaching its first 8th final return from the Champions League in the Paris jersey, the curse finally seems to be of ancient history ... even if the coronavirus epidemic has managed to prolong it so unexpected!
For the first time since his departure from FC Barcelona, the Brazilian will not celebrate his sister's birthday, which he never misses, on March 11. Like the Rio carnival, which he missed at the end of February to play the first leg in Germany (2-1 defeat) where he scored the goal of hope, failing to shine.
And yet, according to coach Thomas Tuchel, his presence on the field changes everything for Paris. "He is the key for us for extraordinary performances and results," he said last Wednesday in Lyon (5-1), his last preparation match before the big meeting against Dortmund.
- Souvenirs of "remontada" -
If his month of January was irresistible, with six goals in five games, "Ney" saw his momentum broken by a rib injury ... which deprived him, at the request of Parisian doctors, of four matches in February !
Anodyne in appearance, his "chondro-costal" lesion was the starting point of an improbable soap opera which ended in settlement of accounts in mondovision. At the end of his resumption match in Dortmund, "Ney" deplored "the choice" of PSG to have preserved it too much: "The club was afraid and it was me in the end (who) suffered".
A media outing that ignited the Parisian ecosystem, in the same way as his choice to cite last July the "ascension" of Barça against PSG (6-1) as one of the best memories of his career ... The supporters of his current club have still not forgiven the affront to the Brazilian, involved in the last three Catalan goals.
That is to say that the Dortmund meeting is a major turning point, not only for his future in the capital he wanted to leave last summer, but especially for the rest of his career. Because time is ticking.
At 28, Neymar, who has just celebrated his 11-year professional career, has still not won the Ballon d'Or promised during his prodigious debut in Santos. And this despite remarkable statistics both in selection and in club (399 goals in 630 matches).
- Finally the Golden Ball? -
With such a gift, how to explain that he could not become the equal of a Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo? The fault of an investment not always at the height of his talent off the field, more similar to his compatriot Ronaldinho than to "CR7".
"The difference in football but as in life in general (...) is mainly at the mental level. The fact of not being satisfied, being there, achieving goals," said AFP. Massimiliano Allegri, who coached the quintuple Portuguese Ballon d'Or at Juventus Turin (2018-2019).
"Achieving goals is sacrifice. It is not: + I am good and I have fun +, no. Otherwise, there is another who is more hungry, more envy than you, who comes first on the ball, winning three more duels, "said the Italian coach.
Despite the successive disappointments and the growing importance of his teammate Kylian Mbappé (21), will Neymar end up getting there this season?
"For me, yes. He is one of the best players in the world, there is no doubt about it," Kaka, the last Brazilian player to win the Ball, told AFP in early February. However in 2007. "If PSG wins the Champions League, it will probably win it." It's up to him to play!
© 2020 AFP