As Paris Saint-Germain prepare to face Manchester United in the Champions League on Wednesday night, Neymar is busy enjoying life at the Rio carnival. As seen in the images below, the Brazilian superstar appeared to be loving his time back home as he joined in the festivities alongside singer and celeb Anitta.
Injury isn’t stopping @neymarjr living his best life at Rio’s carnival 1,22510:57 AM – Mar 5, 2019221 people are talking about thisTwitter Ads info and privacy
The images come on the eve of his side’s encounter with United, with the Ligue 1 champions boasting a two-goal advantage from the first leg at Old Trafford last month in their last-16 tie. Neymar is currently sidelined with a foot injury and is still expected to be out of action for a number of weeks, and so there is no controversy in terms of him being over in Brazil continuing his recovery.
Nevertheless, he will surely have had to sign it off with PSG and the medical staff before going to the carnival, ensuring that they’re fully aware he is taking all the necessary care in his rehabilitation to avoid any setbacks.
It’s unclear as to whether or not he will travel back to France in time for the game, but based on the images below, it looks like a very fun way to recover from his injury nightmare and take his mind off the frustration of not being able to be on the pitch alongside his teammates.
The two sides meet in the French capital this week after PSG secured a 2-0 win in the first leg at Old Trafford to put themselves in a strong position to advance to the quarter-finals. With that in mind, they’ll be heavy favourites to advance and so if you fancy betting on football, backing them would be a smart move.
United have their own injury issues to be worried about, as it’s suggested up to nine first-team stars could miss the second leg this week. However, Thomas Tuchel has suffered a blow of his own as noted in the tweet below regarding Cavani, as it’s suggested that he will only return to full training on Monday and so is a huge doubt to start against the Red Devils.
It isn’t ruled out that he could be on the bench and play some part if required, but it is a blow for PSG given the 32-year-old had bagged 22 goals and eight assists in 26 games so far this season prior to sustaining his muscle injury.
On the other hand, it could also be argued that it isn’t a major setback given PSG coped pretty well without him in the first meeting with Man Utd, with Kylian Mbappe stepping up alongside Angel Di Maria in the final third to give the Ligue 1 champions their dominant advantage.
Nevertheless, particularly in these crunch games at the knockout stage of the Champions League, Tuchel would undoubtedly prefer to have his most experienced and talented players available at his disposal, be it in the starting XI or on the bench. Should he fail to recover in time, Cavani will have to hope his teammates can get the job done and give him the opportunity to lead the line again in the next round.