Neymar Has Paper For Skin And Glass For Bones
(Photo by Quality Sport Images / Getty Images) via Forbes
Paris Saint-Germain recently announced that Neymar will be sideline for the teams Champions League return next week against Barcelona and is expected to be out for nearly a month.
The Brazilian forward suffered a lesion in his left adductor in a 1-0 win against SM Caen in the Coupe de France tournament, according to PSG’s official medical update.
This news isn’t necessarily ground breaking considering Neymar has paper for skin and glass for bones and gets hurt at least three times a year, but it’s a huge blow for PSG nonetheless. On top of Neymar being sidelined for the Barcelona matches, the Parisians will be without winger Angel Di Maria due to a muscle injury as well as Marco Verratti, whose health status remains uncertain.
Since his 2013/2014 season at Barcelona, Neymar has had over 20 different injuries listed on his report and missed more than 90 games. With a price tag of $269 million and a yearly salary estimated to be around $41 million a year, it seems like PSG is getting the short end of the stick. Their biggest star isn’t there for their biggest games.
Not only has Neymar missed an abundance of games, but he has missed some massively important contests for the Parisians. Since joining in 2017, Neymar has missed three of the club’s six Champions League Round of 16 matches. The only time PSG has gotten through to the quarterfinals was also the only time Neymar was healthy for both legs of the Round of 16.
Neymar is one of the only big-name stars I can think of that voluntarily takes games off simply to rest. Players like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo haven’t missed more than 90 games in their combined careers, and they’ve been around since Neymar was in his Youth Academy days with Santos FC.
Other than taking a few days off for rest here and there, I generally feel bad for Neymar at this point because it seems like he has terrible luck when it comes to staying healthy. He shared this heartfelt message on Instagram yesterday after the injury news came out:
Translation:
The sadness is great, the pain is immense and the crying is constant. Once again I will have to stop doing what I love most in life for a bit, which is playing football.
Sometimes I feel uncomfortable by my style of play, because I dribble and end up being beaten constantly. I don't know if I'm the problem or if what I do on the pitch is the problem... and that really saddens me.
It makes me incredibly sad to hear from a player, coach, commentator or whoever the f*** say "he really has to be beaten" or "flopper" or "crybaby" or "brat" or "spoiled" and etc...
Honestly, it saddens me and I don't even know how long I can take it. I just want to be happy playing football. Nothing else ...
It’s a tough blow for everyone involved, and now fans will miss out on the opportunity to see Lionel Messi and Neymar battle it out on football’s biggest stage. You can label Neymar as a “flopper” all you want, but he puts his heart and soul into the game and blatantly risks his body in order to make spectacular plays.
After beating SM Caen 1-0, the game Neymar was injured in, PSG manager Mauricio Pochettino shared some thoughts on how the officiating crew handled the situation.
"I don't want to take it out on the way the opponent played and the way [Neymar] played his game, but I just have the feeling that sometimes there is a lack of protection during matches from refereeing. But it's just a feeling,” said Pochettino.
As hard as it will be to move forward without Neymar or Di Maria in the starting 11 against Barcelona next week, PSG still has a good chance of advancing thanks to their incredible depth.