Paris Saint-Germain lost 1-0 to Olympique Lyonnais on Sunday at the Parc des Princes but that wasn’t the most devastating news of the day.
In stoppage time as PSG pushed for an equalizer, Lyon’s Thiago Mendes fouled Neymar Jr. with a scissor tackle that brought his compatriot down to the pitch writhing in pain.
#PSGOL La cheville de Neymar a tourné sur une grosse faute de T. Mendes !! 😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡#Neymar #ldc pic.twitter.com/ebiSXNIEWD
— panamera (@Panamer55590258) December 13, 2020
Several replays showed Neymar’s ankle getting caught in the challenge and twisting in an unnatural way. As the PSG superstar received treatment, the referee reviewed the tackle via VAR and decided to send Mendes off with a straight red card.
A stretcher was eventually brought out for Neymar, who has a history of ankle and foot injuries since joining PSG in 2017, and every PSG supporter immediately thought the worst.
We likely won’t know the full extent of Neymar’s injury until Monday, however, in a tweet from French journalist Olivier Tallaron, it appears Neymar sustained a severe sprain of his left ankle.
Examens médicaux demain matin pour @neymarjr . Les 1eres observations d’après-match privilégieraient une grosse entorse de la cheville gauche . Les examens confirmeront ou non demain le 1er diagnostic #PSG
— Olivier Tallaron (@OLIVETALLARON) December 13, 2020
“Medical exams tomorrow morning for @neymarjr. The 1st post-match observations would favor a big sprain of the left ankle. The examinations will confirm or not tomorrow the 1st diagnosis.”
That is somewhat good news but Neymar could still miss a couple of months due to the injury. It will be a race against time for PSG’s trainers and medical staff to get him healthy and fully fit for the resumption of the UEFA Champions League knockout stage.
If the examinations show that Neymar needs surgery, his season could be likely over.
Following the loss to Lyon, PSG sits in third place in Ligue 1 behind Lille OSC and Lyon. We officially have a title race in France.
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