Neymar has not been able to shake off an ankle injury in time to return to the PSG starting lineup for the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie against Real Madrid.
The Brazilian talisman returned to training last week before sitting out a couple of sessions ahead of this crunch clash with Real, but the French side were optimistic about his chances of featuring on Tuesday night.
And while he is still expected to play some part, Rodrigo Faez of ESPN reports that Neymar will not start as PSG do not want to take such a big risk.
Neymar has suffered a series of injuries – with most of them coming at this point in the season – during his time in Paris. In four full seasons at PSG, he has only played more than 30 games in all competitions in a campaign once.
Mauricio Pochettino does have Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe – who is the subject of intense speculation regarding a summer move to Madrid – to call upon, though who else he starts in attack remains to be seen.
Former Barcelona prodigy Xavi Simons played from the right-wing in PSG’s late 1-0 victory against Rennes on Friday, while ex-Real winger Angel Di Maria and striker Mauro Icardi both appeared from the bench.
