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– Stretchered off in anguish –
Neymar was stretchered off in anguish towards the end of PSG’s 3-0 victory over their great rivals in the capital, having innocuously rolled his right ankle and flopped to the ground in pain.
With the game already as good as over, the stadium held its breath as he was treated and then carried away, with PSG forced to finish the match with 10 men having made all of their substitutions.
Neymar himself posted a picture on Instagram of his right leg with the ankle and foot heavily bandaged, before later appearing to delete the post. “08:10. Finished for today,” said the caption.
French newspaper Le Parisien had earlier reported that tests on Monday morning had ruled out a “fracture of a serious sprain”.
Kylian Mbappé becomes the youngest ever scorer in Le Classique … ?⚽
… but Paris lose Neymar to an ankle injury during their 3-0 win against Marseille. #UCL pic.twitter.com/TrC5W5y2nS
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) February 25, 2018
But the club later confirmed their fans’ worst fears, with the return game against Real just eight days away.
Despite the injury potentially benefiting Madrid, the Spanish side’s coach Zinedine Zidane claimed he hoped Neymar would recover in time to play.
“I’m not happy with the Neymar injury and I hope he can be back for the game. I will never want a rival player to be out injured,” Zidane said at a press conference in the Spanish capital earlier on Monday.
While Neymar was leaving the Parc des Princes on crutches on Sunday, PSG coach Unai Emery insisted he was “optimistic”.
“We will be optimistic. If I had to say today (whether or not he will face Real) I would rather say yes,” said the Spaniard.
But now his team’s hopes of keeping their European dream alive are hanging by a thread, despite the continued presence up front of Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappe.
PSG have never reached the Champions League final, and lost at the last-16 stage last season after a humiliating 6-1 second-leg thrashing by a Neymar-inspired Barcelona, having won the first game 4-0.
