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Paris Saint-Germain will be without Neymar against Olympique de Marseille in Ligue 1 on Sunday after the Brazil international was ruled out with ankle ligament damage. The French champions issued an immediate update after their 4-3 victory over Lille OSC last weekend which saw the 31-year-old stretchered off.
Neymar was already confirmed to have sprained his ankle and further tests 48 hours later have revealed that there is some ligament damage: “Additional tests today have confirmed that Neymar Jr has sprained his ankle, with some ligament damage,” read PSG’s medical update. “He will undergo further tests at the start of next week.”
With no further update expected before the start of next week, that rules Neymar out for Le Classique at Stade Velodrome. However, it equally does not yet rule the South American out for the UEFA Champions League second leg against Bayern Munich with PSG 1-0 down from the opener.
Neymar scored one and assisted Kylian Mbappe in the win over LOSC last Sunday before suffering another injury on his right ankle which already impacted his FIFA 2022 World Cup. Regardless of next week’s tests, Neymar must be considered in a race against time to make it against Bayern given his injury history and the fact that he is yet to truly rest his damaged ankle since Qatar.
Nuno Mendes also picked up an injury at Parc des Princes although PSG’s medical update on the Portugal international was more positive: “After picking up a knock to his knee in the previous match, Nuno Mendes will return to training this week,” read the bulletin.
It also comes just after Mbappe made his successful return from injury with two goals in the dramatic victory over LOSC as part of a full 90-minute outing. Le Classique is a top of the table clash this weekend with these bitter rivals first and second in the standings with five points between them.
