Lisbon, Tuesday 

Paris Saint-Germain have once again been hit by a flood of injuries going into a crunch Champions League knockout tie, but this time Neymar is fit and seemingly ready to live up to his status as the world’s most expensive player.

PSG face Atalanta in Lisbon on Wednesday in the first quarter-final of the ‘Final Eight’, after UEFA turned the latter stages of Europe’s elite club competition into something akin to a World Cup after the long coronavirus shutdown.

There will be no fans in the Estadio da Luz, but the French champions coped just fine behind closed doors when they beat Borussia Dortmund in their last 16, second leg in March.

That night Neymar scored the opener in a 2-0 win as they overturned a first-leg deficit.

After the game, the Brazilian sat on a step high up in the stands at the Parc des Princes and cried tears of joy.

After all, his first two seasons in Paris following his 222 million-euro ($264 million) transfer from Barcelona were marred by injuries at the worst possible moments.

First there was the broken metatarsal that saw him miss the last 16, second leg against Real Madrid in 2018 as PSG were knocked out by the reigning champions.

And history repeated itself a year later, as another metatarsal injury forced him to miss the defeat against a mediocre Manchester United, when they contrived to throw away a 2-0 first-leg advantage.

Since then, the much talked about move back to Barcelona has not happened and does not look likely to happen in the post-pandemic market.

Wednesday’s game comes a day short of three years after Neymar made his debut for PSG following that stunning, 222 million euros transfer from Spain.

Aged 28, Neymar now finally seems settled in Paris and is in fine shape to lead his team against Atalanta as they look to progress to the Champions League semi-finals for the first time since the Qatari takeover in 2011.

“I think I’m having my best time since I came to Paris,” he said in an interview with the club’s website last week.

And how PSG in the week they celebrate the 50th anniversary of the club’s founding need him as coach Thomas Tuchel has all sorts of selection concerns elsewhere. -AFP