FULL TIME: PSG play to a 2-2 draw with Amiens #ASCPSG
Paris Saint-Germain talisman Neymar has suffered a fresh injury to his right metatarsal, the club said Thursday, marring the holders’ advance to the last 16 of the French Cup with a 2-0 win over Strasbourg.
A fractured metatarsal curtailed the Brazilian’s last season, and the recurrence comes just three weeks ahead of the first leg of PSG’s crunch Champions League clash against Manchester United.
The severity of the new injury is not yet known, although Neymar was able to walk off the field unsupported.
“Initial tests carried out revealed a painful reactivation of the injury to the fifth metatarsal,” a club statement said Thursday.
“The treatment will depend on progress over the coming days,” it said, adding all medical options would be considered.
Neymar initially tried to continue playing. But he covered his eyes — in tears, according to witnesses — as he was forced off to be replaced by Moussa Diaby just after the hour mark.
His early departure was a worrying moment for PSG, with the world’s most expensive player having missed the final three months of last season after breaking the same bone.
Each season PSG, which dominates France’s domestic league, is judged according to its Champions League results.
PSG coach Thomas Tuchel after the game said: “The doctor is worried, ‘Ney’ is worried, because it is the same foot, the same place.”
“It was a situation where he was fouled three times, one after the other. The referee didn’t give anything. He twisted his foot.”
The PSG coach was also unhappy with suggestions from the Strasbourg players and coach that Neymar had provoked the injury by winding up his opponents.
“It’s Neymar’s style, but don’t come and complain when you get kicked,” Strasbourg’s Anthony Goncalves told broadcaster Eurosport.
“He is a great player, I respect him. He can enjoy himself but don’t come blubbering afterwards.”
Edinson Cavani and Angel di Maria got the goals on a bitterly cold night at the Parc des Princes.
Tuchel had left out the ill Kylian Mbappe for this game, with Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting handed a rare start in place of the superstar France forward.
The Cameroon international set up Cavani for the fourth-minute opener, before Di Maria — who had earlier hit the post — finished into the roof of the net 10 minutes from time as PSG stay on track to win the French Cup for the fifth season running.
Before kick-off, fans applauded and chanted the name of Emiliano Sala, the former Nantes striker who is feared dead after the plane he was travelling in disappeared over the Channel Islands on Monday as he was on his way to join his new club Cardiff City.
According to reports from Spain, Paris St-Germain have accepted Neymar will join the La Liga giants sooner or later.
And rather than waste time and energy on changing the Brazilian’s mind, they have been working on finding his future replacement.
The player they have identified as being up to the task of stepping into Neymar’s boots is Antoine Griezmann. The Atletico Madrid striker almost joined Barcelona this summer before he changed his mind.
Griezmann instead signed a new deal at the Wanda Metropolitana ahead of winning the World Cup with France. But Atletico will not be able to stand in PSG’s way if they come for the 27-year-old. Okdiario’s chief pundit Eduardo Inda, speaking on El Chiringuito says the Ligue 1 outfit see Griezmann as relatively good value.
”If Real Madrid sign Neymar, PSG will need to sign a star, and they plan to sign Griezmann,” he said.
“Right now, with the crazy prices that are handled, he’s not expensive”
“Right now, with the crazy prices that are handled, he’s not expensive.”Griezmann’s current buyout clause is set at £178m. Inda also confirmed Neymar would already be a Real player if he had pushed for it this summer.”If he had wanted, he would be at the Bernabeu,” Inda revealed.
“Madrid wanted him, but there was fear.”Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone has admitted he would rather sign Neymar ahead of Kylian Mbappe. He said: “In the Barcelona team of Luis Enrique, when he needed to work, he worked.”Mbappe is more individualistic and doesn’t have a definitive role. Neymar has a fixed position.”
Niko Kovac confirmed Friday that Germany star Jerome Boateng will stay at Bayern Munich, despite weeks of negotiations with Paris Saint-Germain, but Juan Bernat is poised to join the French champions.
With the transfer window to close at 1600 GMT in Germany and France, Bayern’s head coach confirmed Boateng, 29, will not join PSG, despite negotiations, but Spain left-back Bernat is set to sign for the French champions for 15 million euros ($17.5m).
“Jerome is a world-class centre-back. It is all about him staying fit and free from injury, then I am convinced that he will be able to help not only FC Bayern, but also Germany’s national team,” said Kovac.
“The same applies for Mats Hummels and Niklas Suele.
“I do not know if there is a club in Europe that has three centre-backs like that.
“It’s important to be able to rotate.
“Jerome is an absolute professional and will give his all for this club.”
Kovac revealed Bernat, David Alaba’s under-study at Bayern, is set to be the last player the Munich club will sell in the current transfer window.
“Juan is in Paris and will probably sign a contract there, apart from that there will be no more activity before 1800 (when the transfer window closes) – we have agreed on that,” said Kovac.
“We have 19 outfield players, one of whom is injured (Kingsley Coman) and we will certainly use Under-23 players if the need arises.”
Should Bernat put pen to paper for PSG, he will be the third Bayern player to leave in recent weeks after Arturo Vidal joined Barcelona and Sebastian Rudy quit on Monday for Schalke.
Bayern are at VfB Stuttgart on Saturday in the Bundesliga with a point after Munich crashed to a 4-1 home defeat the last time the club’s met under Kovac’s predecessor Jupp Heynckes.
“No one likes that, especially not my lads,” said Kovac after Bayern beat Hoffenheim 3-1 on the opening weekend of the season when Stuttgart lost 1-0 at Mainz.
“They are highly motivated to erase that one.”
AFP
Cristiano Ronaldo is reportedly objecting against Real Madrid trying to sign Neymar. Paris Saint-Germain star Neymar has been a long-standing target for Real, with Florentino Perez eager to bring him to the Bernabeu.
Although the Brazilian only headed to the Parc des Princes last summer in a world-record £200million deal, speculation has been rife that he will return to Spain, even though he was prolific before he succumbed to a metatarsal injury.
But Spanish outlet Don Balon claim Ronaldo is trying to put a stop to the deal. It is said that Ronaldo is not alone with his view on opposing a deal.
Don Balon also suggests Zinedine Zidane is against it, as he doesn’t feel Neymar would fit into his plans while Marco Asensio also has his reservations.
Goals from Edinson Cavani and Christopher Nkunku were not enough for Paris Saint-Germain to win at Amiens in Ligue 1 on Friday.
Champions Paris Saint-Germain saw their hopes of a record Ligue 1 points total dented by a second successive 2-2 draw as Amiens' top-flight survival was secured.
PSG can still better their 2015-16 points haul of 96, but they are five short of doing so with two games remaining after another frustrating stalemate, with Unai Emery's tenure threatening to reach an underwhelming conclusion.
The capital club needed a late Edinson Cavani brace to rescue a point against Guingamp five days earlier and could not build on a first-half opener from the same man at Stade de la Licorne.
Amiens threatened early and Moussa Konate was finally rewarded for his tireless running when he drew Amiens level in the 47th minute, and he struck again with 10 minutes left to cancel out Christopher Nkunku's superb goal.
Kylian Mbappe missed a glorious stoppage-time chance to deny Amiens the point required to guarantee a second straight season in Ligue 1, meaning PSG must reflect on another disappointing outing as they struggle in the aftermath of confirmation that Emery is to depart.
The Coupe de France final against third tier Les Herbiers on Tuesday, as well as the return of Neymar to Paris following injury, means Emery can still sign off with a domestic treble.
A sloppy PSG start set the tone and allowed the hosts their first opening after just 22 seconds, Quentin Cornette's bobbling effort forcing Alphonse Areola into a low save.
Cavani broke the deadlock in the 26th minute. Javier Pastore's weighted ball split the Amiens defence, giving the Uruguayan time to control and aim a finish under Regis Gurtner.
The goalkeeper reacted well to a powerful Nkunku drive, however, and denied Angel Di Maria shortly before the interval with an instinctive stop.
Amiens created a chance soon after the restart and Areola's smart save from Konate was this time in vain. The home side kept the move alive and Presnel Kimpembe stepped up to meet Thomas Monconduit, leaving Konate free to find the bottom-left corner.
But the pressure predictably built on the Amiens goal and, after Giovani Lo Celso shot just wide, Nkunku curled beyond Gurtner from the edge of the area to restore PSG's lead.
The visitors sought a third goal but they were instead caught out at the back again, with Konate the beneficiary. He shot low and hard and the ball squirmed under Areola and into the net.
That was almost not enough to earn a deserved share of the spoils, with substitute Mbappe blasting wide in the 93rd minute as PSG's last chance went begging.
Paris Saint-Germain coach Unai Emery said Friday he will leave the French club at the end of the campaign after Champions League failures in both his seasons in charge.
Emery’s two-year contract ends in June and he had been expected to leave anyway.
He said he met with PSG’s Qatari president Nasser Al-Khelaifi and sporting director Antero Henrique and “we decided that we would not continue to work together”.
“I’ve told the players,” Emery said at a press conference on Friday ahead of the league match against Guingamp on Sunday.
The German Thomas Tuchel, without a club since his tumultuous departure from Borussia Dortmund in May 2017, is seen as the hot favourite to succeed Emery by French media.
“His immense passion for football and his commitment to the job have allowed the club to continue to anchor itself among the elite of French and international football,” said Al-Khelaifi in a club statement.
“I congratulate Unai for his commitment to our project and I wish him, on behalf of the club, full success in the challenges that await him.”
Spaniard Emery arrived having achieved continental success, winning the Europa League three years running with Sevilla.
But his track record in the Champions League at Sevilla, as well as with Valencia and Spartak Moscow before that, had left much to be desired and Emery’s time in France will forever be associated with failure in that competition.
PSG had previously reached four consecutive quarter-finals following the Qatari takeover of the club in 2012, but Emery oversaw a humiliating defeat to Barcelona in the last 16 a year ago, losing 6-1 at the Camp Nou after a 4-0 win in the first leg.
The club then committed to spending 400 million euros ($483 million) on Neymar and Kylian Mbappe alone — the two most expensive transfer deals in history — last year, but Paris were eliminated in the last 16 again this year, going out to Real Madrid.
Those defeats suggested that, far from closing the gap to Europe’s elite, PSG were going backwards.
– Uncertain future –
Under Emery, PSG lost their French title to Monaco before regaining it this season. The club won the French League Cup both seasons. They took the French Cup in 2017 and are back in the final this year where they face third-division Les Herbiers on May 8.
“To achieve its number one objective, which is the Champions League, the club first of all needs to be strong in France,” said Emery, 46.
“This year we have won the club’s seventh league title and we are only missing one to become the most successful club in France.
“I am sure that in the coming years, by continuing to win everything in France, the club will do it.”
Asked if he had any regrets from his two years at the Parc des Princes, Emery added: “I am very happy to have had the chance to work here. It is a great experience as a coach.
“This has been a good season but we still have the French Cup to left to win.
“We lost against Real but they are showing that they are maybe still the strongest team in Europe.”
Emery’s future is uncertain, although he has been linked with a return to Real Sociedad, the club from his native Basque Country whom he played for at the start of his career.
“I’m going to see what’s best for my future,” Emery said. “I’m very focused for Sunday (and Guingamp) and the final of the French Cup. After that I’ll see.”
With four games of the Ligue 1 season remaining, PSG can still become the first team ever to get to 100 points in France’s top flight.
Paris Saint-German forward Neymar hit the town to celebrate his girlfriend's sister's birthday in Sao Paulo before showing off his dance moves on one leg later in the evening. The PSG forward was pictured arriving at a nightclub and stopped for photos alongside his model girlfriend, Bruna Marquezine.
Neymar hobbled along in a protective boot and propped himself up on crutches with the couple both dressed in black. The striker is back in his homeland trying to recover from a broken metatarsal in his right foot.
It seems Neymar won't allow the injury to dampen his spirits or restrict his movement too much as a video from the night showed him dancing along to some music.
The 26-year-old stood on his healthy left leg, lifting the right boot above the floor before showing off his moves.
He added the caption: 'So if you can', and is making the best of his difficult situation.
Having suffered the injury in action for PSG back in February, he now faces a race against time to be fit for the World Cup.
With the start of the tournament in Russia only 84 days away, Neymar's dreams hang in the balance.
He underwent successful surgery two weeks ago and has regularly shared updates of his rehabilitation from the gym.
He even showed off some dance moves on one leg
With PSG playing no further part in the Champions League after their elimination by Real Madrid and Ligue 1 already wrapped up, Neymar's club season is over.
Source
News reaching us has it that Manchester United have joined the race to sign Paris Saint Germain forward, Neymar jnr. The Red Devils are ready to fight Real Madrid for the signing of the Brazilian star.
Don Balon reports that Neymar, who only joined PSG in a €222 million world-record transfer from Barcelona last summer, could soon be on the move again.
Madrid have long targeted a deal for the attacker, but United are willing to make an offer, with the aim of making Neymar the team’s new leader
Earlier report suggested that Neymar had reportedly asked his father to finalise a move to Real Madrid before this year’s World Cup in Russia.
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