Neymar ruled out of Champions League against Barcelona after PSG win

Neymar will miss Paris Saint-Germain's Champions League last 16, first leg match against his former club Barcelona due to a groin injury, the French club said on Thursday.

The Brazilian forward suffered the injury in PSG's 1-0 win against Caen in the French Cup on Wednesday, ruling him out of the game in Spain on Feb.16.

Earlier on Wednesday, Neymar walked off the pitch without waiting to be substituted after being on the receiving end of a series of fouls during Paris Saint-Germain's 1-0 French Cup win at second-tier Caen, with coach Mauricio Pochettino saying he had "pain in his thigh".

The Brazil attacker, captaining PSG with Marquinhos and Presnel Kimpembe absent, was fouled twice in the space of three minutes.
He was visibly upset after the second foul, by Steeve Yago, exchanging words with the Caen player.

As the game resumed, Neymar continued to complain before walking down the tunnel to the dressing room in the 57th minute. The world's most expensive player was replaced three minutes later by Kylian Mbappe.

"He has pain in his thigh, we will see on Thursday if it's an injury or not," said Pochettino.

"I don't want to talk about the opponents' way of playing. But during the match, there is a feeling of having little protection. But it's not only in this match." Neymar, although appearing to be moving quite comfortable, was grimacing while holding his thigh.

"Every game is important. I believe that PSG must win every game," said the Argentinian, who took over from the sacked Thomas Tuchel last month.

"If we had lost, you would have criticised me for not having given importance to the French Cup.

We make the decisions, we analyse, we try to find the best team." The holders did enough to win despite finishing the game without their stand-in skipper, as Moise Kean's 49th-minute goal, assisted by Neymar, proved to be the winner.

PSG were never in serious trouble as they moved into the last 32.

Marseille eased to a "welcome" first victory since suspending coach Andre Villas-Boas by beating second-tier Auxerre 2-0.

Argentina striker Dario Benedetto, with his just his fifth goal in 29 games this season, and Ahmadou Dieng found the net for Marseille.

"Qualification is welcome in the period that we are going through, we are in a tough place," said stand-in coach Nasser Larguet.

"There was not a great quality of play, but on the other hand, there was great team spirit, lots of energy, we saw the boys put in maximum effort.

"And then the satisfaction of seeing Dario Benedetto score his goal, it had been a while. The players remained united until the end."

Marseille had blown a two-goal lead to draw with Lens and lost 2-0 to arch-rivals PSG since Villas-Boas was suspended following comments made after a defeat by Monaco.

The principality side also booked their spot in the last 32, as Stevan Jovetic scored in a 1-0 win at Grenoble.

Ligue 1 leaders Lille reached the next round as 19-year-old Guinean midfielder Aguibou Camara's early goal secured a 1-0 victory over Dijon.

Lille, who have not even reached the Cup semi-finals since winning the double in 2010-11, sit two points clear of Lyon at the summit of the top-flight table.

News of the sacking of Nantes coach Raymond Domenech emerged during the Canaries' 4-2 loss to Lens, with the former France boss missing the game after a positive Covid-19 test.
Agencies