Already out of the blockbuster spherical of 16 second leg fixture between Paris Saint Germain (PSG) and Bayern Munich within the UEFA Champions League, Brazilian famous person Neymar will now miss the rest of the season with an ankle harm. PSG have confirmed that Neymar is sidelined for 3 to 4 months as the previous FC Barcelona star will endure ankle surgical procedure in Doha.
Neymar’s ankle harm formally ended his bitter-sweet 2022-2023 season at PSG on Monday. The Brazilian No.10 has performed simply 48% of attainable Ligue 1 minutes since finishing his sensational switch to PSG from Barcelona in 2017. In Neymar’s absence, Lionel Messi-starrer PSG is tasked to overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit towards robust title-contenders Bayern Munich within the Round of 16 part of the UEFA Champions League.
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The Bavarian giants had efficiently neutralised the Neymar risk within the 1st leg of the mouthwatering tie at Parc des Princes. Responding to a Hindustan Times question throughout a particular interplay organised by Sony Sports Network, former Premier League footballer Ashley Westwood expressed his reservations about Neymar’s absence impacting the end result of the second leg tie between PSG and Bayern Munich.
“PSG are better without Neymar. You know he is so good on the ball, he is so fast in his dribbling technique. When he gets on the ball, he kind of attracts 2 or 3 players from the opposition, because there’s a lot of focus on stopping him. If you are to be PSG with him and Messi in the side, they don’t defend very well from the front. Both of them – they are not great at possession. They don’t do the hard yards if you would like. And it can be a little bit open when you play both. What’s more important is Mbappe coming back if you look at the first leg – 1st half, Bayern completely dominated PSG. And only 10 minutes into the 2nd half and Mbappe came on – the difference was there and apparently, he scored a goal which was disallowed by inches for offside,” Westwood informed Hindustan Times.
Neymar has netted 18 targets for PSG throughout all competitions this season. However, PSG’s world-record signing (222 million euros) solely struck thrice in 9 appearances after the FIFA World Cup break. Neymar has missed greater than 100 video games for PSG as a result of both harm or suspension. Kingsley Coman’s beautiful opener turned out to be the one aim of the competition as Bayern Munich outclassed PSG 1-0 on the Parc des Princes within the 1st leg. The Bundesliga giants will meet Neymar-less PSG within the 2nd leg of the Champions League final 16 part at Allianz Arena on Thursday.
“Obviously, Mbappe, Messi and Neymar link together very well and PSG look like a different side but it’s tough to have all three of those in the side, it leads you very open defensively because they don’t defend really well from the front. But you cannot afford to have 3 luxury players on your side and expect to be keeping clean sheets day in and day out. So it’s a loss because he (Neymar) is one of the best players in the world. But arguably could make them a little bit more solid because they may be able to defend possession a little bit better which you need to do against Bayern Munich – you know they are a fantastic side, one of the favourites to win it,” the previous Bradford City AFC star added.
Watch the LIVE protection of UEFA Champions League 2022-23: Chelsea vs Borussia Dortmund on Sony Sports Ten 2, Sony Sports Ten 3 (Hindi) & Sony Sports Ten 4 (Tamil & Telugu) channels on eighth March 2023 at 1:30 am IST.
Source web site: www.hindustantimes.com
