PSG are officially scared of the Reds
It’s official. Paris Saint German, Thomas Tuchel and Neymar are scared of their Champions League clash with Liverpool.
Tuchel, who manages the Parisian giants, has admitted that he protected the crown prince of Ligue 1 to ensure he was ready to face the Reds.
The former Borussia Dortmund gaffer didn’t want the Brazilian to train in the lead up to Tuesday’s game, nor did he feature on the weekend as PSG beat Saint Etienne.
There can only really be one reason why Tuchel would go to all that trouble to protect a player: he is worried about the threat Liverpool pose and wants to do everything in his power to mitigate that.
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Of course, having a player of Neymar’s calibre in the team is always going to give them a chance – but the very fact that the manager has felt the need to wrap him in cotton wool should be a massive ego boost for the Reds.
Talking after their last league game, the Liverpool Echo reported that Neymar trained against the wishes of his manager – who didn’t even want the Brazilian to take part in their session this week.
“Neymar played 90 minutes on Wednesday with Brazil, so I did not want to take any risks. Together, we decided that he would not play,” said the gaffer.
You’d think that PSG would be able to get by without the services of their star man if they really had to, and Tuchel’s comments are a big feather in the cap of the defence that Jurgen Klopp has assembled.
It also highlights the stark contrast between Klopp’s approach and that of his countryman. While Tuchel is pulling out players and trying to make sure they have enough rest, Klopp is squeezing his best XI for everything it’s worth.
Next. Five things we learned from Liverpool victory over Spurs. dark
The best method will clearly be decided on the field, but you suspect that you’d rather have a team of players who want to be out there as much as possible – rather than those who sit one out voluntarily.