Paris St Germain forward Neymar’s return from injury is on schedule after he was ruled out for four weeks earlier this month with an adductor muscle injury, coach Mauricio Pochettino said yesterday. The Brazil international has been sidelined since limping off the pitch on Feb. 10 in a French Cup game against Caen, which ruled him out of PSG’s Champions League last-16 first leg against Barcelona.
He resumed individual training on Thursday, raising hopes that he might be back earlier than expected. “He has been following the protocol of the medical and performance sector,” Pochettino told a news conference ahead of PSG’s Ligue 1 trip to Dijon. “Today he was on the pitch to train individually. He’s got a good mindset. We’re happy. Everything is under control in terms of timing. He’s on schedule.”
PSG, who host Barcelona on March 10 in the return leg after claiming an emphatic 4-1 win at the Camp Nou, first need to bounce back in Ligue 1 after they fell down to third with a 2-0 home defeat to Monaco last weekend.
Although Dijon are bottom of the table, PSG face a tricky task as they will be without Neymar, Angel Di Maria, Leandro Paredes as well as Alessandro Florenzi, Marco Verratti and Mauro Icardi who are all injured. PSG trail leaders Lille by four points and second-placed Olympique Lyonnais by one.
Meanwhile, Marseille fans are awaiting the arrival of Jorge Sampaoli in the hope the fiery Argentine might revive a team that has slumped down the Ligue 1 table while the club is in crisis behind the scenes.
The former European champions lie in seventh place as they prepare to host bitter rivals Lyon tomorrow, almost a month after Andre Villas-Boas was removed as coach following a row over transfer policy.
They have won just once in nine league games, jeopardising their chances of qualifying for Europe next season.
Meanwhile, the club is still reeling from the violent January attack on their training ground by several hundred protesting supporters, one of whom this week received a three-month prison sentence while 11 others were handed suspended jail terms. Organised supporters groups are also calling for unpopular president Jacques-Henri Eyraud to resign.
Into this volatile atmosphere is expected to walk Sampaoli, the 60-year-old Argentine who coached his country at the 2018 World Cup and this week announced his departure from Brazilian club Atletico Mineiro.
Sampaoli previously won the Copa America with Chile in 2015 and spent a season in Spain with Sevilla. His explosive character could make him either the perfect fit for a club seemingly always on the verge of a crisis, or someone who may only add to the sense of perpetual turmoil.
Marseille’s previous experience with an Argentine coach, under Marcelo Bielsa in 2014/15, is still fondly remembered at the Velodrome despite results tailing away after a brilliant start. The rivalry between Marseille and Lyon has grown over the last decade with the two clubs often competing with each other for Champions League qualification just as Paris Saint-Germain have dominated in Ligue 1.
However Lyon are now locked in a four-way battle for the title along with Lille, PSG and Monaco. Rudi Garcia’s team come into the weekend in second place, three points behind leaders Lille and a point above PSG in third.
Fixtures (Kick-offs GMT)
Today: Bordeaux v Metz (1200), Dijon v Paris Saint-Germain (1600)
Tomorrow: Monaco v Brest (1200), Angers v Lens, Lorient v Saint-Etienne, Nimes v Nantes, Reims v Montpellier (all 1400), Lille v Strasbourg (1600), Marseille v Lyon (2000)
Paris St Germain forward Neymar has been sidelined since limping off the pitch on February 10 in a French Cup game against Caen. (Reuters)
