Neymar, “invisible”

The Paris Saint Germain appeared in the Parc des Princes with a large part of its artillery and he received Leipzig in a clash where the cross meant European death, and economic. Neymar, Mbappé and Di María led Tuchel's squad and between the first and third they cemented survival after ten minutes. A disputed penalty on the Argentine was transformed by the Brazilian. Quiet, he followed his usual routine to achieve what the Noodle could not achieve a week before, convert from eleven meters. But there his game ended.

The one from Mogi das Cruzes was playing his first match as a starter after returning from a thigh injury that made him miss three games. The weekend he played half an hour against Monaco (3-2) and could not avoid the comeback led by Cesc Fabregas, on the field, and Kovac, on the bench. In the face of the energy complex, tests or caution were not worth it, although Tuchel did not want to neglect the center of the field, after being surpassed in the first leg by Nagelsmann, and reinforced the engine room with Ander, Danilo and Paredes. It left Ney as a false nine, a position that takes you too far from the action.

“Invisible, but valuable”, that's how he defined L'Équipe the meeting of the Brazilian. Vallious because his so much from the fatal point drove away the ghosts from the abyss and kept his sorting options intact. Invisible for everything else: “We barely saw Neymar during the game (…). He is visibly far from being 100 percent physically. Placed from a false nine, he fought to make a difference and, as usual when he does not sit down, he agglutinated possession too much and could not hide his discomfort, even receiving a yellow card. “That is the summary of Ney's game for a French newspaper which highlights that the only shot on goal in the clash, apart from the penalty, was one by Rafinha in the 93rd minute.

But nevertheless, At the time of qualifying, the attempt to lead and having tempered the nerves served Neymar, at least, to achieve an approved scraping (5/10) in the usual L'Équipe scores after the game. Something that the player with whom he shares the spotlight and stardom does not achieve: Kylian Mbappé. The great desire of Real Madrid was, together with Florenzi and Di María, the worst of the meeting by Parisian part (3/10). A score that they explain in the following way: “Thanks to his legs he is able to make a difference on an individual level. Maybe twenty minutes. A volley at 15 minutes and some walls. Then he died, almost totally. None of his actions generated danger in the second half and his drought in the Champions League (more than 600 minutes) continues. Replaced by Kean in the 90 '. “Tuchel saved the neck, but the tension is palpable in Paris, as could be observed after the meeting. The German cannot allow his stars not to perform at his level, since the rope carries tense too long.