Unai Emery has denied Neymar is about to have surgery on his ankle and insisted the Paris Saint-Germain forward has a chance of facing Real Madrid on March 6.
PSG confirmed on Monday that Neymar had suffered a fracture on his right ankle, as well as sustaining a severe sprain, during the victory over Marseille on Sunday.
The injury was thought to rule Neymar out of the crucial Champions League decider against Real, and reports from Brazil claimed that the 26-year-old would need surgery on his ankle.
But, Emery has now dismissed those reports as false and even suggested there was still a ‘small chance’ the PSG talisman would play against Real.
‘For Neymar there has been no decision to have an operation,’ said Emery. ‘Neymar is the first to want to play every match, he’s very focused on Real.
I think there’s a small chance that he’ll be ready for the match.’
PSG have yet to give any indication how long Neymar will be sidelined for, but the Brazilian risks further injury if he plays in seven days time.
Neymar has the World Cup to keep in mind, with Brazil set to once again look to the attacker to inspire a run to the final in Russia this summer.
The Brazil international has been a roaring success in Paris since joining in world-record transfer last summer, scoring 29 goals in just 30 appearances for PSG.
PSG are 14 points clear at the top of Ligue 1 after the win at Marseille and the French side were set to concentrate all their efforts on overturning a 3-1 deficit against Real in front of their home supporters.
The chance of beating Real would certainly be decreased without Neymar in PSG’s eleven, but the Ligue 1 side have clearly not given up on including their record-signing in their squad.
Neymar has battled injury before and often shares snaps of his busted ankles after games.
