Paris Saint-Germain has to make up for the 1-0 defeat from the first leg in the second leg of the Champions League at FC Bayern Munich without Neymar. That doesn’t have to be an advantage for Bayern.
The 31-year-old will be operated on the ligaments of his right ankle and will be out for three to four months. That’s a problem for coach Christophe Galtier. “He’s one of the best players. His absence is a big disadvantage for us”, explained the coach. He must have said it like that.
Often only followers and marginal figures
On closer inspection, the absence of the Brazilian superstar is not an advantage for Bayern – on the contrary. Of course, if Neymar is fit and healthy, then he has to play. He earns too much money for a place on the bench, which the Qatari owners and fans of the French capital club would not understand. And sometimes he shows them too, these brilliant moments on his good days.
But in the big games of the Champions League, Neymar was often just a follower and marginal figure. So this season he has scored 18 goals in 29 competitive games for PSG and played 17 more – but almost only in the league and cup. He only has two goals in the Champions League. And he didn’t do that against the top clubs Juventus Turin and Benfica Lisbon in the group phase, but against Maccabi Haifa. Even in the knockout duels of recent years, Neymar has always been far from deciding a game alone or making the difference.
The first leg already passed Neymar almost completely
The first leg against Bayern also passed Neymar almost completely. His free-kicks were weak, his crosses were harmless, he hardly ever had a shot – let alone a good scoring chance. So the jubilation about Neymar’s failure is also limited in Bavaria. The Brazilian was not mentioned in the pre-game interview.
Müller: “Mbappé is an absolute danger”
Thomas Müller has Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé on his radar. “It’s a unique situation to have the freshly crowned first and second place in the world footballer’s election in attack”, said the veteran. Mbappe is from Müller’s point of view “X Factor” in PSG game: “He is an absolute danger, maybe currently the difference player par excellence”.
That was also clear in the first leg. Paris only got going when the lightning-fast Frenchman, who was still suffering at the time, came on as a substitute in the 57th minute, took control of the game and became a constant threat to Bayern’s defence. Neymar became even more of a supporting character.
“We are determined”
Since the first leg, Mbappé has scored five goals in three games and is now also the club’s all-time leading goalscorer with 201. “We’re going to Munich to qualify for the next round”he announced: “We are determined, we have regained our confidence.” He probably likes to remember his last appearance in Munich. He scored twice in the 3-2 win two years ago and Bayern were eliminated in the quarter-finals.
Congenial duo with Messi
World champion Lionel Messi is also in good spirits. He goes from one “very tight and difficult game” out of: “But I think we are well prepared and able to turn the whole thing around.”
In the two most recent league games in Marseille (3-0) and Nantes (4-2), the Argentine harmonized splendidly with Mbappé – even without Neymar. Galtier is well advised to simply put another defensive man in place of the Brazilian to protect the congenial duo. That should pose problems for Bayern that Neymar could probably not give them. .