PARIS, Dec 4, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Paris Saint-Germain this week averted a
crisis by beating Manchester United to revive their Champions League campaign
and the club’s followers might even be getting giddy at the possibility of
seeing Lionel Messi in the French capital next season.
Neymar scored twice in Manchester and then publicly stated his wish to team
up again with his old Barcelona teammate next season, telling ESPN: “I want
to play with him for sure, next year we have to do it.”
With Messi having spent the last close season trying to engineer a move
away from Barcelona, who are suffering badly from the economic impact of the
coronavirus, Neymar perhaps feels a reunion in Paris is more likely than his
return to the Camp Nou.
Meanwhile PSG are pondering how to deal with Neymar’s contract, and that of
Kylian Mbappe, which both expire in 2022.
The Qatar-owned club are also feeling the effects of the pandemic, which
has slashed ticket revenue in particular, with games in France being played
behind closed doors.
Qualifying for the Champions League last 16 would provide a financial
boost. Thomas Tuchel’s team only require a draw at home to Istanbul
Basaksehir next week to seal their progress.
“I didn’t come to Paris to play in the Europa League,” Neymar told Brazil’s
Esporte Interativo.
However, Tuchel warned: “We have almost qualified, which means we have not
qualified yet. That is the reality. Being almost pregnant does not mean you
are pregnant.”
Last season’s Champions League runners-up are a work in progress and they
have allowed the chasing domestic pack to catch up.
A loss at Monaco and a draw with Bordeaux in their last two matches have
left PSG just two points clear of Lille, Lyon, Monaco and Montpellier in
Ligue 1.
PSG go to Montpellier this weekend knowing a defeat would knock them off
top spot.
Montpellier, though, are without their top scorer Andy Delort after he
tested positive for coronavirus for the second time in three months.
One to watch: Patrick Vieira
The France 1998 World Cup-winning midfielder has been lauded for the steady
work he has done in the last two years at Nice, taking the Cote d’Azur side
to seventh and then fifth place and European qualification last season.
Vieira’s side were expected to kick on this season following considerable
investment from the club’s British owners Ineos.
Instead, hampered by the loss of captain Dante to a serious injury, Nice
are in the bottom half of Ligue 1 after a shock home defeat by struggling
Dijon last weekend and they have disappointed in the Europa League. That has
turned up the pressure on ex-Arsenal star Vieira.
“When I was a player I had very difficult moments in my career and I never
gave up,” Vieira said this week.
“I have always fought and hung on in there. What I am going through now
will not change me.
“I know results are not good but I will keep working hard and being even
more demanding of myself.”
Key stats
4 – The number of points separating the top six in Ligue 1. Marseille, in
sixth, are four points behind leaders PSG but have two games in hand on the
teams above them.
3 – If PSG fail to win at Montpellier they will have gone three Ligue 1
games without winning for the first time since April 2019.
9 – Lyon have injected life into their season on a run of nine games
without defeat, leaving them just two points off top spot.
Fixtures (Kick-offs GMT)
Friday
Nimes v Marseille (2000)
Saturday
Rennes v Lens (1600), Montpellier v Paris Saint-Germain (2000)
Sunday
Lille v Monaco (1200), Angers v Lorient, Bordeaux v Brest, Dijon v Saint-
Etienne, Nantes v Strasbourg (all 1400), Reims v Nice (1600), Metz v Lyon
(2000)