A real curse.
For the third time since his arrival in France, the Brazilian star of PSG will miss a knockout stage of the Champions League.
While he was eager to find his former team of FC Barcelona, Tuesday February 16, Neymar must give up this shock due to an adductor injury, contracted last Tuesday against Caen in the Coupe de France.
Following contact with defender Steeve Yago, "Ney" left the field, grimacing, in the 57th minute.
The number 10 Parisian suffers from a "lesion of the long left adductor" which makes him unavailable "for about four weeks", said his club.
Deeply affected by this new physical setback, Neymar split a message on his Instagram account: "The sadness is great, the pain immense, the tears constant. Once again, I will stop doing for a while what I love the most in the world: playing football. Sometimes I feel bothered by my style of play, by my dribbling and the tackles that I always end up receiving, I don't know if I am the problem or if it is. do I do in the field… "
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Repeated injuries
On the side of the supporters of the capital club, this new absence is starting to make people cringe.
All have in mind the long history of absences of Neymar, often affected at this time of the year.
Since his recruitment during the summer of 2017 at a gold price (222 M EUR), he has accumulated absences at times when his club needs him the most.
In 2018, he missed the round of 16 second leg against Real Madrid, due to a sprained right ankle, coupled with a crack in the 5th metatarsal of a foot.
The following year, it was the two confrontations against Manchester United, still in the 8th, that he missed, due to an injury to his right foot.
The epic of last year, concluded with the final lost to Bayern Munich (1-0) in August 2020, must have cast out these demons, especially as he shone in his role as playmaker. statistics speak for themselves.
The Brazilian has played only 103 of the 191 games played by his team since his arrival, noted statistician Opta.
He thus has more absences than goals (83).
Without him, PSG have been eliminated each time in the Champions League.
Many evenings
Some people no longer hesitate to advance a bad lifestyle to explain this infernal circle.
While his first forfeits "at the dawn of the knockout stages of C1 or between two round of 16 were first linked to injuries caused by the opponent", explains the newspaper L'Équipe, "muscle injuries who escorted the rest of Neymar's Parisian career are more appealing ".
For the sports daily, "Serious, diligent, rigorous in sessions, the Brazilian considers perhaps a little too often that his job stops at the exit of the Parc des Princes or the Camp des Loges, once the matches or the training sessions He allows himself many late evenings, some of which are staged on his social networks ".
The star had also created the controversy at the end of 2020: rumors reported a huge party organized by the player for the New Year in Brazil in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Asked about this on TF1, Neymar had assumed his inclinations.
"The party is the opportunity to relax, to enjoy it, he said. It is something that I will never give up."
⚽ - EXCLUDED
“With # Mbappé, we have a relationship of brothers!
»
From a child in the favelas to a little prince of Brazil, who is really #Neymar?
The @PSG_inside star striker talks about @ audrey_crespo's “Portrait of the Week”.
📺 This Sunday, from 6:20 p.m. on @ TF1.
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- Seven to Eight (@ 7a8) January 31, 2021
Words that certainly did not fail to annoy some members of the PSG staff.
As L'Équipe points out, "internally, some club members feel that their sleep, diet and hydration are not always in line with the needs of a very high level athlete."
"This blow was too much"
His entourage, for his part, tries to calm things down by emphasizing his involvement in the game.
"
He's really, really screwed. He has taken a lot of bad shots, but this one was too many […]. He lives on. an extreme situation and we have to find a solution. It was his game, it was too much,
"
said one of his relatives to the Spanish newspaper Marca.
However, he still has the slim hope of playing the return leg against FC Barcelona at the Parc des Princes, in the event of a rapid recovery, on March 10.
In the meantime, his trainer Mauricio Pochettino will have to do without him, as well as Angel Di Maria, hit in a thigh.
The Argentinian technician sees a second of his "Fantastic Four" mown in full swing.
The keys to the attack will be handed over to Kylian Mbappé or Mauro Icardi.
With AFP
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