Neymar blow for PSG ahead of CL clash with Barca; Leipzig boss wary of Liverpool threat

Neymar will miss Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League last 16 second leg against Barcelona on Wednesday after failing to shake off a thigh injury, the French champions confirmed.

PSG said on Tuesday the Brazil attacker would continue to train individually and would be assessed again “in the coming days”.

“We have not had to make a decision, it is simply the state of fitness of a player, in this case ‘Ney’, who can’t make it,” coach Mauricio Pochettino said during a virtual press conference ahead of the game at the Parc des Princes.

“He is not fit enough to play a competitive game. This is just a reality, a fact.

“It’s a shame because he had been really looking forward to this game. It is a difficult moment for him because he had been expecting to recover but clearly he is still a few days away from being able to help the team.”

The 29-year-old has not played since picking up the injury in a French Cup victory over Caen in early February.

He also missed the first leg of the Champions League tie at the Camp Nou, which PSG won 4-1 with Kylian Mbappe scoring a hat-trick, due to the issue.

That result puts Pochettino’s team in a strong position to qualify for the quarter-finals going into the return leg, although the former Tottenham Hotspur coach preached caution in front of the media.

“We still need to play a game of football, and be focused on that,” he said. “We have to attack and win the game. That is what we have prepared for.”

Pochettino added that Italy right-back Alessandro Florenzi could return after sitting out the last three games due to injury.

Moise Kean, who scored in the first leg, is still missing after testing positive last week for Covid-19.

Ronald Koeman insists Barcelona can pull off another incredible comeback against Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday, especially if Lionel Messi plays at his sensational best.

Barca were thrashed 4-1 in the first leg of the Champions League last 16 last month but Koeman believes his team can repeat the ‘remontada’ of 2017, when they overturned a 4-0 defeat by PSG with an astonishing 6-1 victory.

“There is always a chance,” said Koeman in a press conference on Tuesday.

Meanwhile,  RB Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann insists his side remain underdogs in Wednesday’s Champions League, last 16 clash against crisis-hit Liverpool after the Germans lost 2-0 to the Reds in the first leg.

“We are heading into the game with the necessary humility and respect,” Nagelsmann said on Tuesday.

He added that Liverpool’s miserable run of six defeats from their last seven league games had no bearing on Leipzig’s chances in the Champions League.

“We’re not interested in Liverpool’s league results, because we are losing this tie at the moment. We are the challengers, not the favourites,” said the 33-year-old Leipzig coach.

Nagelsmann added that he backed Liverpool to bounce back under fellow German boss Jurgen Klopp.

“It’s a hard phase for them, but they are still a world-class team with a world-class coach,” said Nagelsmann.

“Jurgen has already mastered a few crises in his career,” he added.

Budapest, which was also the venue for the first leg, will host the return tie due to Germany’s Covid-19 travel restrictions.

Nagelsmann also confirmed that Spanish winger Angelino would miss Wednesday’s game and remain sidelined until April.

A star performer for Leipzig this season, the former Manchester City left-back has missed the last two Bundesliga games with injury.

“If we take the risk of playing him, there is a big danger that he could be out for a very long period,” explained Nagelsmann.

He added that Angelino would return after the international break at the end of this month.

Agencies