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The Brazilian star is struggling for fitness and his manager won’t be rolling the dice ahead of a crucial match
Neymar is in doubt for Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League last-16 first leg at Borussia Dortmund, according to head coach Thomas Tuchel.
PSG were without star forward Neymar for Wednesday’s 6-1 rout of Dijon in the Coupe de France quarter-finals due to a rib injury.
Neymar stayed in Paris as the Brazilian continues to recover from the injury, which he suffered against Montpellier on February 1 and led to him missing Ligue 1 wins over Nantes and Lyon.
After travelling to Amiens in Ligue 1 on Saturday, PSG will then make the trip Dortmund for the opening leg of their Champions League tie against the Bundesliga outfit on Tuesday.
Asked about Neymar post-game, Tuchel told reporters: “I can’t say that he will be 100 per cent to play against Borussia Dortmund.
“We will discuss and decide on Friday, the latest possible time to do so. We can’t risk his fitness.”
Tuchel added: “We aren’t going to take risks against Amiens, it’s clear. We will have a strong team, but if we have little doubts, we won’t take risks.”
PSG sailed into the Coupe de France semi-finals thanks to the midweek demolition at Dijon.
An early own goal from Wesley Lautoa opened the scoring for PSG, though the visitors were pegged back by Mounir Chouiar 12 minutes later.
However, a Pablo Sarabia brace and goals from Kylian Mbappe and Thiago Silva, as well as a Senou Coulibaly own goal secured PSG’s passage.
“Dijon started very aggressively, took a lot of risks and put in a lot of effort. We were also very focused, and battled for second balls,” Tuchel said.
“We were very careful but were able to step up our tempo. We were patient and played quickly, simply and created space in the second half. We controlled the game and scored two more goals quickly.”
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PSG have now won eight straight games and are 12 points clear at the Ligue 1 summit.
Tuchel’s side next face Amiens away on Saturday before travelling to Germany to tackle Dortmund in the Champions League.
The French champions have fallen at the round of 16 stage for the past three seasons and they will be desperate to avoid a similar exit this year.
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