‘Has become a national tradition’ – Neymar is injured again

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The Brazilian, who turns 28 on Wednesday, will once more mark the event from the treatment table. Neymar has been left out of the Paris Saint-Germain squad for Tuesday’s battle against Nantes because of a rib injury, just two weeks following the Brazilian held a lavish party to celebrate his birthday.

The white-themed event in a nightclub was attended by a number of Neymar’s team-mates such as Marco Verratti, Edinson Cavani, and Angel Di Maria.

Neymar, who turns 28 on Wednesday, is notorious for throwing massive parties to mark personal milestones. In 2019, 500 individuals were invited to an event sponsored by Red Bull, whilst Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton and also the president of Brazil were one of the guests to celebrate his 26th birthday two decades back.

The prior Barcelona forwards has now been injured on his birthday each year since linking PSG, with suffered foot injuries in 2018 and 2019 that kept him out for many weeks.

Despite talk about holding a low-key celebration this season, PSG manager Thomas Tuchel, that was not present on Sunday, branded case a”distraction” given it had been sandwiched between two league matches.

On the other hand, the German insisted that his team choice for the Nantes game wouldn’t be influenced by the celebration.

“I always protect my players, and I truly love my group. With this celebration, I accept it is a bit difficult to protect the players, but the context isn’t simply black or white,” he told a news conference. “Is it the best method to prepare for a game? No, obviously not. Is it the worst thing in the world? No.

“This is a shame, as we’re giving people the chance to speak poorly of us. We need to adapt to the circumstance, but I am not likely to depart a player on the bench or at home because they went out and celebrated.”

The France international reacted angrily to being substituted and had a heated exchange with Tuchel about the touchline.

“There is nothing personal between me and him. These things happen,” added the former Borussia Dortmund boss.

“It was a player who do not want to come off, and a coach who had his motives for doing something, and that wanted to give a match to gamers that deserved it.”