Neymar has not broken anything, but a sprained ankle is expected to keep him out of action for Paris Saint-Germain for around three weeks.
The Brazil star had to be taken off on a stretcher in the second half of PSG’s drama-filled 4-3 win over Lille in Ligue 1 on Sunday afternoon. He rolled his right ankle while running at full speed and under pressure from a Lille defender.
Neymar appeared to be in a considerable amount of pain. After trying to stand up and put weight on his injured ankle, he used the stretcher that was on offer to exit the Parc des Princes pitch.
PSG boss Christophe Galtier confirmed post-match that Neymar had suffered a sprained ankle, with scans revealing no fractures to his right leg. The French giants will assess his ligaments in the coming days once the swelling has reduced.
L’Equipe reports that Neymar’s entourage is hoping he will only be sidelined for a maximum of three weeks. The newspaper says there is hope that he will be fit for the all-important Champions League second leg against Bayern Munich on March 8.
PSG go into the second leg in Bavaria with a 1-0 deficit after losing the home leg on Tuesday due to Kingsley Coman’s goal. Galtier is under huge pressure to see the Parisiens progress to the quarter-finals and will be desperate for Neymar to be available.
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Galtier was able to field Neymar alongside Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi against Lille – and he needed all three to contribute in a topsy-turvy game. Goals from Mbappe and Neymar had the home team 2-0 up after 17 minutes, but their recent poor form – which had seen them lose their previous three matches – meant confidence was low.
Bafode Diakite headed in to make it 2-1 at the break before Neymar had to be stretchered off the pitch in the 51st minute. Jonathan David then netted from the penalty spot after Marco Veratti was controversially adjudged to have tugged a shirt at a corner, and Jonathan Bamba raced onto a ball over the top of the defence and beat Gianluigi Donnarumma at the near post for 3-2.
PSG still managed to turn things around for the three points. Mbappe slid in Juan Bernat’s low cross at the near post in the 87th minute for his second goal. Messi then produced a textbook free-kick in the 95th minute, curling the ball past Lille goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier.
Galtier and his team play Marseille in Le Classique next Sunday before another Ligue match against Nantes. The Bayern second leg will then be played on March 8 in what will surely be the aim of Neymar’s recovery.
Galtier was delighted with the win over Lille but told Prime Video that he would have had the backing of the club’s hierarchy even if PSG had lost again. “A manager who loses four games in a row, at PSG no less, is obviously having a difficult time, there can be doubts,” he said. “What I can tell you is that I have the permanent backing of the management and the president, and that’s very important.”
