Set for a spell on the sidelines (Mowa Press)

It has been confirmed that Neymar will miss PSG’s Champions League second leg match against Real Madrid with injury. Scans last night revealed that as well as twisting his ankle he has cracked his metatarsal, which could require surgery.

PSG have not put a timescale on the return, although the Brazilian media are claiming that the player will be out for a month. I’m not a doctor, but to me, that sounds very optimistic. If my hazy memory serves me right, it took David Beckham several months to get fit after his metatarsal injury before the World Cup in 2002 and he still wasn’t properly fit when he travelled to the competition

Of course, the World Cup is still more than four months away from now so there is a good chance that Neymar will be fit for that. Lets hope. Lets pray. But this is hardly ideal preparation for Brazil’s star player. Worryingly for PSG, their chances of overturning their two goal deficit in that round of 16 second leg against Real Madrid look slim.

Neymar will miss Brazil’s upcoming friendlies against Russia and Germany (the squad for those games will be announced on Friday). Marquinhos and Fernandinho are also struggling with injuries. Not a good start to the week for Tite.

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