Neymar wants 'history' with Real scalp

PSG has never advanced beyond the quarterfinals of the Champions League since the club's takeover by its Qatari owners in 2011, throwing away a 4-0 first leg lead to spectacularly crash out in the last-16 to Barcelona last season after four straight quarterfinal exits.

PSG’s Ángel Di María, Neymar, Marco Verratti, Giovani Lo Celso and Kylian Mbappe take part in a winter training camp in Doha.

Neymar believes Paris Saint-Germain can "make history" by eliminating holder and record 12-time winner Real Madrid when the two clubs meet in the last-16 of the Champions League.

French league leader PSG was paired with Cristiano Ronaldo's Real in the tie of the round, and big-spending PSG is looking for a rapid return on its massive summer investment.

"We know it will be a difficult match against a team that has been playing together for years and also wants to win, but we can beat them," Neymar said on Thursday as PSG arrived in Doha for its winter training camp.

"We can make history. We're here to do just that, to play football, and we're going to do everything to win," added the Brazilian.

PSG has never advanced beyond the quarterfinals of the Champions League since the club's takeover by its Qatari owners in 2011, throwing away a 4-0 first leg lead to spectacularly crash out in the last-16 to Barcelona last season after four straight quarterfinal exits.

It will travel to Madrid for the first leg on February, with the return meeting at the Parc des Princes on March 6.

Neymar, who was voted third in this year's Ballon d'Or, also admitted it would be "difficult" for him to win next year's award — a prize that has changed hands between Ronaldo and Lionel Messi for the past decade.

"That doesn't depend just on me, but also on my teammates and what we win this season. It's obvious that the World Cup will be very important ... but we'll have to do things well as a team first and then think about individual stuff," the Brazilian said.

Neymar has scored 17 goals in 20 matches since his arrival in Paris, but Kylian Mbappe believes the team's attack will become even more potent as the season progresses. "We have a great attack and I think we can do even better," said Mbappe, who turned 19 on Wednesday.

"We've only been together for five months and we've already been able to develop in certain ways, but in a year it can be even better.

"We know each other very well but there are still some of those automatic reflexes missing to really know one another by heart.

"I think we can get there quickly to do some really great things for PSG. We have lots of talent but to win titles you need a real team, and I think we're capable of doing it,” he concluded.