Asking if Paris Saint-Germain could pose more of a threat to Real Madrid on Tuesday night without Neymar, seems at first like a stupid question.
How can a team benefit from being without the third best player in the world?
But then if the question is such a daft one why are Barcelona a better team this season without Neymar than they were with him last year?
The absence of Neymar through injury is a massive boost for Real ahead of the second leg
Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as Real Madrid beat PSG 3-1 in the first leg at the Bernabeu
Real Madrid were beaten at home in December by a post-Neymar Barca so they will know better than to relax just because they are not facing the Brazilian.
And they have even less excuse to be complacent because they know all about the man most likely to replace him.
Angel Di Maria was man-of-the-match in the 2015 Champions League final that Madrid won in Lisbon.
‘He’s also a spectacular player,’ said Zinedine Zidane on Tuesday. And both the Real Madrid coach and captain Sergio Ramos spoke about how Di Maria’s greater willingness to work back for the team will make the French side stronger defensively.
There is a sense within Zidane’s squad that while they got the better of Neymar at the Bernabeu, on Tuesday night they will have to get the better of a PSG team made greater than the sum of its parts by the absence of its most talented individual.
The onus will fall on former Real player Angel Di Maria to provide PSG with an attacking spark
PSG players including Di Maria (second left) and Marco Verratti (right) joke during training
Here’s how Paris Saint-Germain could line up in their second leg meeting with Real Madrid
Di Maria was even tipped by some to start the first leg such had been his excellent form since the turn of the year.
He will start on the right cutting inside on to his favoured left foot and so allowing Dani Alves to overlap him whenever PSG attack.
And without the ball he will drop back in front of the Brazilian full-back as Unai Emery’s team go from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2.
But Di Maria could also swap wings at times and allow right-footer Mbappe to get a run on the outside of Marcelo. It’s his versatility and stamina that makes Di Maria the player he is.
Young striker Kylian Mbappe will offer PSG firepower as they chase the goals they need
PSG coach Unai Emery knows he has to balance a search for two goals with solid defending
There are two other big changes from the first leg. Thiago Silva comes back in for Presnel Kimpembe who was Emery’s surprise selection at the Bernabeu. And Thiago Motta is likely to be fit enough to start in holding midfield.
If he is not then another Real Madrid old boy Lassana Diarra will play. Whatever happens the disastrous experiment used in the first game of playing 21-year-old Giovani Lo Celso in that position will not be repeated.
All this makes PSG a tougher nut to crack and while it is true that it is PSG who need the goals, they don’t need a huge win because a 2-0 scoreline will see them through.
Madrid are banking on scoring to end the contest but if they don’t then they will be left relying on their own defence and La Liga form suggests it cannot be depended upon.
Thiago Motta is fit again and likely to return to the PSG midfield having missed the first leg
Thiago Silva is likely to return to the PSG starting line-up for the second leg on Tuesday
There are precedents for a home victory by two goals – 17 out of 20 games this season at home have finished with results that would see PSG through.
And it was only two years ago in the Champions League quarter-finals that Real Madrid lost 2-0 away to Wolfsburg, albeit in a first leg that they turned around in the second game.
PSG saw plenty of evidence in the first leg that they can hurt Madrid. Adrien Rabiot was all alone with when he scored the away goal and players arriving behind the front three could be crucial once again.
And doubling up on Madrid’s full-backs could also be key. If Di Maria and Mbappe both attack inside and are joined on the outside by Alves and Layvin Kurzawa then it could be a long night for Dani Carvajal and Marcelo.
Adrien Rabiot fired Paris Saint-Germain ahead during the first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu
Ronaldo’s first was a ‘bounce’ penalty to cancel out Adrien Rabiot’s opener for the Parisians
Real’s second bounced in off Ronaldo’s thigh in the closing 10 minutes of the first leg contest
Marcelo then made sure Real took a two-goal lead into the second leg with a late strike