LISBON • Paris Saint-Germain have once again been hit by a flood of injuries going into a crunch Champions League knockout tie, but this time Neymar is fit and seemingly ready to live up to his status as the world's most expensive player.
The French champions face Italian side Atalanta in Lisbon today in the first quarter-final of the "Final Eight", after Uefa turned the latter stages of this year's competition into a knockout format because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Not only will there will be no fans at the Estadio da Luz, but PSG are also short on match fitness compared to their Serie A opponents.
Thomas Tuchel's players have played only two competitive fixtures since March after the French league season was first halted before being prematurely cancelled owing to the Covid-19 crisis.
Given the long stoppage, PSG were not at their best in those two games, but they did enough to win two further trophies - the French Cup and French League Cup - for their fourth domestic treble in six seasons.
However, there is one piece of silverware that is missing from their trophy cabinet since the Qatari takeover in 2011 - the Champions League. It is the reason why PSG spent a world record €222 million (S$359 million) to lure Neymar from Barcelona in the summer of 2017.
The club's continued failure to lift a maiden European Cup is also the reason Tuchel is their fourth coach since the buyout.
Neymar has also not fully lived up to his price tag, suffering a string of injuries that forced him to miss critical European games. First, there was the broken metatarsal that ruled him out of the last-16, second-leg tie against Real Madrid in 2018 as PSG were knocked out by the reigning champions.
History repeated itself a year later, as another metatarsal injury forced him to miss the defeat at the same stage, when they threw away a 2-0 first-leg advantage to a mediocre Manchester United side.
Since then, there has been plenty of speculation over a possible return to Barcelona for Neymar, but the 28-year-old finally seems settled and is in fine shape to lead his team against Atalanta as they look to progress to the last four for the first time since 1995.
The Brazil forward is gunning for an unprecedented quadruple, telling the club's website: "I'm having my best time since I came to Paris. I've lived through happy moments and difficult ones, especially when the injuries didn't allow me to play.
"With the help of my teammates, I was able to overcome them and focus on what really matters, our performances on the field which translate into titles."
PSG will be counting on him as Tuchel has all sorts of selection concerns elsewhere. His other star forward, Kylian Mbappe, is expected to be on the bench at best as he tries to shake off an ankle injury.
Angel di Maria is banned, while Marco Verratti, Layvin Kurzawa and Thilo Kehrer are all injured and Edinson Cavani has left on a free transfer. To top it all, Tuchel is on crutches too as the German coach broke his metatarsal last week.
But as long as Neymar is fit, PSG should be too strong for debutants Atalanta, who also have their own problems to contend with. Top scorer Josip Ilicic, who has netted 21 times in all competitions, will be missing due to personal issues.
"We're a very strong team together, we've won four titles (including the French curtain-raiser) already this season, and I'm very happy to be the PSG manager," Tuchel said. "It's a gift for me."
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
ATALANTA V PSG
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