At least now he's actually familiar with the place. Once again, as has often happened since moving from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2017, Neymar will travel to Doha, Qatar, to rehabilitate his left ankle injury at the Espétar clinic. This is the sixth time in the last four years that he has suffered an injury that has required so much specialist treatment and attention (hence the going asper) and will keep him out for several weeks.
This time the event that led to it was one of misfortune. During Sunday's 3-1 win at Saint-Etienne, defender Yvan Macon made a tackle that missed both Neymar and the ball, but the Brazilian forward stepped on Macon's ankle and turned his own in the process. . The ankle ligament is damaged, and will be sidelined for up to eight weeks.
Neymar's injury issues are well documented. The first two were serious because he had a metatarsal fracture in his right leg; The first in February 2018, barely six months after arriving in Paris, ended his season (he missed a total of 16 games), while the second, a year later, in January of 2019, saw him miss another 19 games to play. OK for A part in the last three weeks of the campaign. A year earlier, Neymar injured his left ankle, missing five weeks and five games for him. He was out of action for two months and nine matches when he suffered a groin injury in February 2021, and before that, he had torn a right ankle ligament while playing for Brazil, which cost him three months (Jun- September 2019).
Overall, Neymar has missed 91 matches for PSG so far, if you combine these injuries with all sorts of minor troubles. This has always been a topic of discussion, especially for a player who has rarely been injured in the four years he spent at Camp Nou, during which he missed only 29 games.
So what happened? For starters, he's getting old. Neymar turned 30 in February and given that he started playing professional football at the age of 16, he is already suffering 14 years of effort, intensity, knocks, kicks and general pain. He's probably already played too much, his body now more fragile than ever. Accumulation of injuries does not help.
If we look at Neymar's problems again, they often affect the same parts of his body: feet, metatarsals, ankles, groin, the same areas that never fully heal and are more prone to re-injury it occurs. This is certainly a concern, and PSG are trying to find a way to prevent these injuries as much as possible. He needs to take care of Neymar's body as much as he can and he needs to help them too. All the invisible tasks – things like recovery, rest, nutrition – will be more important than ever to Number 10. After all, he is entering an important part of his career.
In May, Neymar signed a new contract at PSG with the option of an additional year until 2025. It's a long time, and to make the most of these years to come, his fitness will be crucial. He is aware of it; He reportedly did not like the criticism over his extra weight in the summer. It took him a while to get back to peak fitness and become the best version of himself on the pitch. It was only when he was hitting that form that the injury struck against Saint-Etienne.
Within Neymar's squad, there is a sense of misfortune when it comes to what comes next, yet PSG are not worried. He hopes Neymar will be back, fully fit and ready to go for crucial games in the Champions League - the first leg of his last-16 games will be on February 15 or 16, the second on February 22 or 23 Will - - and in Ligue 1 (they are taken on 6 February). Meanwhile, Mauricio Pochettino will have to do without him.
Could this be a welcome opportunity to do something different? PSG manager Neymar could be replaced by Angel Di Maria, but he could try to find more balance in his team and play 3-5-2 now with Sergio Ramos back, Kylian Mbappe and Lionel With Messi - No.1. 3 and No. 1 forward respectively - up front in ESPN's FC 100 for 2021. Or maybe even 4-4-2, with Diamond midfield and Messi behind Mbappe and Mauro Icardi, or a flat 4-4-2 with Messi with the French star.
There are many options for Pochettino and PSG, with Neymar now forced to watch from the stands and see how his team does without him. There is no doubt that Neymar will be missed; Unfortunately, his team has gotten used to it.