YOU’RE NEY LAUGHING NOW, ZZ
Neymar could get Zidane sacked
REAL MADRID scoffed when Paris Saint-Germain swooped to steal Neymar from Barcelona for £200million last summer.. but they’re not laughing now.
Finishing second to Tottenham in Group H means reigning champions Madrid must tonight try to stop the Brazilian who so regularly tore them apart in a Barca shirt.
Dani Carvajal said “there’s no recipe to stop him” but the Madrid right-back won’t even get the chance to try tonight because of suspension, with the dedicated but limited Nacho (below) set to play in his place.
Even without Neymar, Barcelona have charged to the top of La Liga and left their rivals in their wake.
It’s beginning to look like a crisis for Madrid and, if Neymar can inspire victory against Zinedine Zidane’s side tonight, the French coach could be sacked before the second leg in Paris.
“I feel no pressure,” insisted Zidane yesterday. “I have nothing to prove. I’m not going to think about my future.”
Neymar has been increasingly linked with a move back to Spain, this time for Real Madrid.
Just as PSG signed him after he inspired Barcelona to an historic 6-1 win over them last season, Madrid may end up hiring their executioner, especially with 33-year-old talisman Cristiano Ronaldo coming towards the end of his career.
Marcelo, Neymar’s friend and teammate for Brazil but enemy tonight, said he thinks the mercurial forward will play for Madrid one day. “Neymar is a world star. It’s clear any fan would like to have him,” he said.
Neymar was keeping the door to a move open when he looked ahead to tonight’s match at the Bernabeu.
“The form of Real Madrid in La Liga means nothing – if anything it makes them more dangerous because now the Champions League is more important for them,” he said.
“They might not be where they expected to be in La Liga but there is a reason they have won the last two Champions Leagues – it’s because they have some of the best players in the world and a very good coach.
“That hasn’t changed – and we will still be respecting them like they are one of the best because that is just what they are.”
Neymar also tipped Premier League leaders Manchester City to be a “serious” threat in the compeition.
The Brazilian has likened PSG to Pep Guardiola’s club – lacking history at the very top level but hungry to put down a marker this season.
“I also think ourselves and Manchester City need to be taken very seriously,” he added.
“There are similarities between PSG and Manchester City – they might not have the history in the Champions League of the others but they are both projects that have that ambition to win and create history.
“Then you have the teams like Madrid, Barcelona, and Bayern who have rich history in the competition. They will be among the favourites this year.”