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The impossibility of getting a win against the Reds on Wednesday will inevitably lead the world's most expensive player to the exit door of the Parc des Princes
There may not be more than three points in the game, but it is no exaggeration to say that the Wednesday meeting of the Champions League with Liverpool is the largest in the history of Paris Saint-Germain .
Victory and the Ligue 1 champions will be at the dawn of the knockout stages, but will lose and the very fabric of the club will threaten to collapse.
Even in the event of humiliating elimination, President Nasser Al Khelaifi will likely be safe, as will head coach Thomas Tuchel, whose excellent work on the home front assures him of a "safe haven". to be untouchable for the moment. However, the sports director Antero Henrique would be among the victims.
His departure, however, would leave little room next to that of Neymar, whose position as one of the biggest stars in the world would become untenable in the heart of a failed project which he was the keystone.
Before Wednesday's meeting at Parc des Princes, the focus was on the 26-year-old's thigh injury and his ability to play. If he does not, the French club might have an unwelcome and disturbing view of what would be the future without the Brazilian international.
Neymar is inextricably linked to PSG's quest to dominate Europe since the summer of 2017, when a lavish transfer campaign allowed them to land in Brazil for 222 million euros, knocking out world football. Not only was the game's transfer record beaten, but it was completely erased.
Three weeks later, Kylian Mbappe followed from Monaco and arrived with a figure almost as absurd, even if the teenager was signed with an eye turned to the future. Neymar was to have an immediate impact, the ready-made superstar able to lead the PSG to the glory of the Champions League and put himself in his position to win the Golden Ball.
But ambition and abilities are two very different things and, just like previous editions of PSG had succumbed in the knockout stages of the Champions League, it would be the same for this very expensive version.
Admittedly, by the time they crashed against Real Madrid, winner of last season, Neymar was stuck with a broken metatarsal, but the Qatari owners of the club had not paid record sums for a mere sixteen the Brazilian is installed in Paris simply to recover an incredible paycheck.
He was sold the dream of winning the Champions League and the Golden Ball, but the reality turned out to be different.
Clarence Seedorf, four-time winner of the competition, believes that it was predictable that the move would materialize this way.
"He has to play with the players better than him," he said. Globo Esporte. "Not technically, but those who have already won big prizes, who can talk to him and whom he can respect.
"He's still young, he's not in Europe for so long, it was a sin to leave Barcelona so quickly, two more years there and it could have been different for him."
But instead of Camp Nou, he finds himself at the Parc des Princes, where there is a record of failure and unsatisfied potential in the Champions League.
With a win, two draws and a defeat in Group C, Tuchel's men are now threatening to collapse at an even earlier stage and infinitely more humiliating than ever before for the past seven years that QSI has been in power.
Another defeat against Liverpool, whose 3-2 win over the Parisians at Anfield was much more complete than the dashboard suggests, would probably return the most expensive offensive line-up ever assembled to ignominy of the Europa League.
But the long-term consequences would be greater. this would serve as a catalyst to end Neymar's stay in France.
The winners of Ballon d'Or do not play football on Thursday night, and Goal understands that Barcelona is preparing a road map to re-sign the former Santos star, who has scored 41 times in 46 matches since arriving in France.
One of the conditions of the agreement is that they need him to publicly acknowledge his regrets to switch to PSG. What better excuse than an early exit from the Champions League?
Such talent deserves to be highlighted on the biggest stage, and even if the South American is not ready to bury the hatchet to return to his former club, the other giants of the continent would undoubtedly enter in the case if he decided to leave the French capital.
Without the football of the Champions League, the PSG which would keep its biggest star would suddenly become an even more difficult task than to sign it from the start.
If an instant domino effect at the Parc des Princes would be unlikely – Mbappe would remain to assume the role of leader – the long-term message would be clear: the PSG is no longer part of the European elite.
"Individually, you do not win anything in the team sport," said Dani Alves in preparation for the mid-week big showdown. However, without world-class talent, the task of winning the biggest prizes of the game becomes undoubtedly more complicated. .
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After years of cautious but expensive construction, it's a slip that even the most Parisian spenders simply can not afford.
The European history of PSG has been dominated by its inability to occur at the clutch. On Wednesday, they will have to learn this technique against a club that has been one of the masters of the art over the years.
If they fail, a long-term business could collapse quickly.
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