Paris Saint-Germain star Neymar suffered a sprained ankle and a fractured metatarsal when he was stretchered off in Sunday’s win over Olympique de Marseille, the Ligue 1 leaders announced on Monday.
The Brazilian, who signed for PSG in a world-record move from Barcelona last year, is now a serious injury doubt for the UEFA Champions League round-of-16 second leg against Real Madrid at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday next week.
PSG trail in the tie after a 3-1 first-leg defeat in Spain, with their hopes of a maiden Champions League title taking a further body blow with the confirmation of Neymar’s injury, although they did not specify how long the 26-year-old would be out of action.
“Additional examinations performed today [ultrasound and computed tomography scan] confirmed an external sprain of the right ankle, but also an associated fissure of the fifth metatarsal,” PSG said in a statement.
The chances of Neymar returning to fitness in time to face the reigning European champions now appear extremely slim.
He is all but certain to miss today’s Coupe de France quarter-final against Marseille and the weekend’s Ligue 1 visit to Troyes AC, with the Real clash just three days later.
Metatarsal injuries usually take weeks, if not months to recover from.
Neymar was stretchered off in anguish toward the end of PSG’s 3-0 victory over their archrivals in the capital, having innocuously rolled his right ankle and flopped to the ground in pain.
Despite the injury potentially benefiting Real Madrid, the Spanish side’s coach, Zinedine Zidane, claimed he hoped Neymar would recover in time to play.
“I’m not happy with the Neymar injury and I hope he can be back for the game. I will never want a rival player to be out injured,” Zidane said at a news conference in Madrid on Monday.
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