Paris Saint-Germain coach Thomas Tuchel has defended his decision to wrap Neymar Jr. in cotton wool ahead of the Champions League trip to Borussia Dortmund, after the Brazilian criticised the handling of his latest injury.
The world’s most expensive player said that he was unable to perform to his very best during Tuesday’s 2-1 defeat in Germany in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie, having been left out of PSG’s previous four games. He had been nursing a rib injury, but insisted he could have come back sooner in order to build up his match fitness before facing Dortmund, but Tuchel insisted he had no regrets.
“Imagine if we had let him play, the injury had been aggravated and he had been out for three months. Then the question would have been if we had made a mistake by bringing him back,” Tuchel said at a press conference on Saturday. “Believe me, this is a decision that went over and over in our heads. I would like 'Ney’ to play every match, but that was the decision we took. Now he needs to play to get his confidence back.”
Neymar’s goal in Dortmund could ultimately prove crucial in deciding the outcome of the tie, although PSG did not perform anywhere near their best at the Signal Iduna Park. Tuchel admitted he and his players are now eagerly awaiting the second leg on March 11 as they look to turn the tie around.
Bounce back
“It is in our heads and in those of the players, but at the same time we have to prepare for our matches in Ligue 1 and the Coupe de France tie at Lyon in order to win those and regain confidence,” he said as he likened the performance to that in a 3-2 defeat in Liverpool in last season’s group stage.
“My players are very, very competitive. They are in a situation that is not comfortable and their confidence has taken a knock. We had a similar situation last year after a defeat at Anfield against Liverpool. It was an unsatisfactory night, when we were lacking a lot of things. We came away with the same feeling and in our next game we showed a reaction by winning 2-1 at home. We are in the same situation and we need the same reaction.”
Looking ahead to Sunday night’s clash with Girondins de Bordeaux at the Parc des Princes, Tuchel added: “It is never easy to start again after a defeat. That is the challenge. We need to show straight away that we are capable of playing with more intensity than we did against Dortmund.”
Paris are without the ill Thomas Meunier and the injured Colin Dagba, so Thilo Kehrer should start at right-back against a Bordeaux side who are in mid-table but are unbeaten in their last five league outings.
