Nice captain Dante believes his fellow Brazilian Neymar could lead Paris Saint-Germain to Champions League glory in Lisbon next month.
PSG will find out their quarter-final opponents on Friday as the Ligue 1 Uber Eats champions continue their bid to win the competition for the first time. Dante, who won the Champions League with Bayern Munich in 2013, told Le Parisien: "There are no standout clubs from those already qualified. This could be the year for PSG. I'd back them and Bayern. Even before the format of the competition changed, I could already see Paris making the final. The qualification against Dortmund showed the resources of the team. Led by Ney, they have a major card to play."
Neymar scored in both legs of the Round of 16 success against Dortmund and Dante sees the world's most expensive player continuing to exert a major influence on the competition: "We all know his qualities. Paris without Neymar is a strong team that could beat anybody. But with him, Paris are even better. He's made a breakthrough. With his injuries, he had to go through times that weren't easy, but he's got a lot of character.
"He's an extraordinary man"
"He was self-critical and that allowed him to improve still further and think collectively. You can see that too in his more fluid relationships with his teammates. The image people have of him is wrong. He's an extraordinary man. He has a great love for the game and on the pitch you can feel his joy."
