Sports Burst - Ney-Day! Ney-Day!
Barcelona vs. PSG set to lose major storyline with Neymar on brink of missing next Tuesday's Champions League clash
By Tim Stannard
Messi could be forced to carry entire narrative for the game after Neymar suffers thigh injury in Caen cup clash
Next Tuesday's Champions League clash between Barcelona and PSG received a major blow on Wednesday with 50% of the storylines going into the game in danger of disappearing.
A hefty tackle in a Round 32 Coupe de France win for PSG against Caen saw Neymar leave the game after 60 minutes and a concerned Mauricio Pochettino admitting that Ney-Ney's immediate future was uncertain - "it's hard to know now, we'll see with the doctor, for the moment it's hard to say."
On the footballing front - secondary in importance to the drama - Neymar's loss will be a blow to PSG with the club already without the services of the injured Angel di Maria. However, that might be counteracted by the drip, drip injuries to Barcelona's backline ahead of next week's Last 16, first leg game.
Neymar's possible absence means that Lionel Messi is not only going to have to carry Barcelona though the match - as ever - but also load the entire game's storylines onto his narrative back. It is more than likely that the story of Messi coming up against the team he could well be joining in the summer might just dominate the media landscape going into the game.
On the Neymar front, if the Brazilian turns out to be just fine then he will be in action next on beIN SPORTS on Saturday in a Ligue 1 clash against Nice that is live at 11AM ET. If not, then he'll be watching along with everyone else as Kylian Mbappe does all the heavy lifting.
Meanwhile, the Coupe de France continues on Thursday on beIN SPORTS with a double header. Sochaux take on Saint Etienne at 12:45PM ET followed by Angers hosting Rennes at 3PM ET.
Koeman's Copa del Rey masterplan takes on water
Ronald Koeman's Project: 'Go for the Copa del Rey so I have something to show for my time at Barcelona before being shown the door in June' took a bit of a blow on Wednesday with Barca losing 2-0 to Sevilla in the first leg of the team's Copa del Rey match against Sevilla.
"There is hope, although the tie is complicated. But this team are capable of anything at home," said Koeman cheerfully with the second leg not taking place until the beginning of March.
Thursday morning's quarterbacking sees two French defenders in making news with praise for Sevilla's 22-year-old, Jules Kounde, but harsh words for Samuel Umtiti after the latter was left behind by the former in the match's first goal.
The second strike saw Ivan Rakitic going all Luis Suarez by getting revenge on his former team.
Barcelona will be back on beIN SPORTS on Saturday from 2:30PM ET with a home clash against Alaves.
Tom Brady beats Sergio Ramos in coveted cup-handling clash
And finally, an answer to a question that no-one was asking. Who is better? Tom Brady or Sergio Ramos.
In terms of taking care of business of winning trophies, Sergio Ramos is probably ahead with a World Cup win to his name for starters. But in terms of handling the trophy itself, it's the Tampa-proof Tom Brady who displayed supreme care of the Vince Lombardi Trophy by hurling it perfectly from one boat to another in the Super Bowl celebrations to make it an easy catch for teammate Cameron Brate
Sergio Ramos? Dropped the Copa del Rey in 2011 during celebrations to then see the trophy run over by the bus he was on.