Real giant test for PSG
Alves backs Neymar-less Paris biggies to come hard, beat Real
Paris, March 5: Dani Alves insists Paris SaintGermain have what it takes to beat Real Madrid in their Champions League showdown on Tuesday even without the injured Neymar.
“We always have two options — either we sit down and cry, or we get up and do what we have to do,” said Alves when asked about the absence of his compatriot, who is back in Brazil recovering from a foot operation.
“With Neymar PSG are stronger, and without 'Ney' we are still strong because there are other players,” added Alves, who was speaking at Monday’s eve-of-game press conference in Paris.
“For sure, we will feel his absence. But I insist that between sitting down and crying and getting up and getting on with it, I always opt for the second option,” he added.
The world's most expensive player had an operation on Saturday in Belo Horizonte on a small fracture to a metatarsal in his right foot and is now recovering with the aim of being back towards the end of the season.
The hope for PSG is that they might be able to get their 222 million-euro man back for the latter stages.
But in order to make it to the quarterfinals, they will need to overturn a 1-3 first-leg deficit in their Last-16 tie against Real following their defeat at the Santiago Bernabeu.
“I speak with him (Neymar) practically every day, so yes we have agreed between us that we would see each other again later on in this competition,” he said.