Unai Emery may be remaining optimistic and he may be holding out hope of having Neymar available to him for the second leg of Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League tie against Real Madrid, but the player’s father has said there is no chance of the forward being back in time.
As such, Emery must start considering alternative options, such as Angel Di Maria, who is the first in line to take the Brazilian’s place. Since the start of 2018, Di Maria has been PSG’s best player and has managed 14 goals and 15 assists in the 30 matches he has played this campaign, an impressive return considering he is not a guaranteed starter.
In his past 12 appearances he has scored 10 goals, including a hat-trick against Sochaux in the cup. Di Maria also knows what it’s like to play in a huge European game against a LaLiga giant, having been the star of the show as the Ligue 1 side beat Barcelona 4-0 during last season’s edition of the Champions League.
It was seen as controversial that Di Maria didn’t play a single minute at the Santiago Bernabeu in the first leg, but he might now get an unexpected chance to show what he can do against his former club.