Paris St Germain’s intense fixture schedule has played a part in Neymar’s latest injury, coach Christophe Galtier said, after the forward sprained his ankle and was stretchered off the pitch in Sunday’s 4-3 comeback win over Lille in Ligue 1.
Brazilian forward Neymar, who scored PSG’s second goal in the 17th minute, left the field in tears early in the second half after colliding with Lille’s Benjamin Andre and rolling his ankle.
“Neymar suffered a sprained ankle during the game against Lille and underwent an MRI scan today. It did not reveal any fracture,” PSG said in a statement. “A new ligament assessment will be carried out in 48 hours.”
The club did not provide details on how long Neymar would be unavailable. The 31-year-old sustained damage to the same ankle during last year’s World Cup in Qatar and missed two games.
Ligue 1 leaders PSG face Marseille, who are five points behind in second, away next weekend and host Nantes before taking on Bayern Munich in the second leg of its Champions League last-16 tie as they look to overturn a 1-0 deficit.
Neymar has twice spent lengthy spells on the sidelines after sustaining metatarsal fractures before PSG’s last-16 tie against Real Madrid in 2019 and against Manchester United the following year, with the French side being knocked out on both occasions.
“This is not bad luck,” Galtier said. “There are always reasons for injuries - the schedule, the sequence of games. It is never random. He is being examined to know the severity of his sprain.
“Of course, it complicates things and that’s the way it is. We have to keep our heads down. We’re going to do it again, but with a victory. That is more pleasant,” he added.
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