Although the return of Ramos and his goalscoring debut, as well as Messi’s first appearance in 2022, have been good news for PSG, the Parisian team is still in suspense regarding the recovery of Neymar. The Brazilian star will reappear, a priori, on February 6 against Lille, but his physical condition is unknown. In fact, Pochettino could not confirm this Sunday at a press conference the presence of the midfielder in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 against Real Madrid
“¿Neymar against Real Madrid? We do not know it yet. We will follow its evolution next week. It will be available if all goes well. We hope so, but we still don’t know,” Pochettino acknowledged at a press conference after beating Stade Reims 4-0 in a match in which Neymar was in the Parc des Princes attentive to what was happening on the pitch.
In the past week, PSG reported that Neymar should, a priori, rejoin collective training throughout this week. Neither Pochettino nor the medical staff, in line with the philosophy they have been adopting since the beginning of the season, want to take only one risk with the player, so they will only call him up if he is fully recovered. Neymar picked up an ankle injury on 28 November against Saint-Étienne, suffering a severe ankle sprain that has prevented him from competing ever since. At the moment, nobody can confirm that he will be in full condition for the first leg of the round of 16 of the European Cup against Real Madrid.