Neymar leaves on stretcher in tears after shocking ankle injury

Neymar's season could be over. The Brazilian had to leave PSG's Ligue 1 match with Lille just after half-time after suffering what looked like a serious right ankle injury.

The 31 year-old challenged for the ball with Lille's Benjamin Andre at the halfway line in the 48th minute when Neymar twisted his ankle in the turf on planting his foot. The Brazilian went down in pain immediately and after initial attempts to stand up, he went down again and left in tears on a stretcher. 

The news comes as a huge blow to PSG as they need him to overturn a 0-1 deficit in the Champions League last 16 while it could be a devastating blow for Neymar personally as well. The ankle is the same one he injured against Serbia in the World Cup group stage and that forced him to miss two games with a sprained ankle. 

The injury seemed to affect PSG on the pitch as they were 2-1 up at the time of the injury thanks to goals from Mbappe and Neymar, but ended up conceding two more goals to make it 2-3 in Lille's favour. First, Jonathan David converted a penalty just before the hour mark and then Jonathan Bamba put Lille ahead in the 63rd minute. They then fought back with goals from Mbappe and Messi at the death to get a 4-3 win. 

PSG will be hoping Neymar has just a sprained ankle rather than any ligament damage otherwise he will be a huge loss for them despite the late win.

 

February 19, 2023