- Paris Saint-Germain face Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday
- PSG threw away a 4-0 first-leg lead in their last-16 clash with Barcelona in 2017
- Real Madrid star Marcelo insists that loss won’t have any bearing on Wednesday
- The Brazilian talked up the prospect of PSG star Neymar moving to Real Madrid
Real Madrid full-back Marcelo says he does not believe the nightmare of their Champions League exit against Barcelona last season will be haunting Paris Saint-Germain as they face Real Madrid.
PSG were thrashed 6-1 at the Camp Nou with three goals coming in the last seven minutes to dramatically knock them out of the Champions League. Neymar was destroyer in chief that night making the last goal and scoring the other two with a free-kick and a penalty.
‘I don’t think the Barcelona-PSG game has any bearing,’ said Marcelo. ‘That will not be on their minds and it will not be on ours. Every season is different.’
Paris Saint-Germain were dumped out of the Champions League last season at the Nou Camp
Marcelo doesn’t think the Barcelona defeat will have any bearing on Wednesday night’s game
Asked if he believed the Real Madrid supporters would welcome Neymar at their club if he were to leave PSG the Brazilian was emphatic regards his international team-mate.
Despite Neymar’s Barcelona past, Marcelo said: ‘I think the Madrid fans would [welcome him]. ‘They like good players. Any supporter would want Neymar in their team.’
Marcelo will be part of a Madrid back-four tasked with the job of stopping the most lethal front three in Europe but he said the reigning European Champions were not living in fear of a dreaded away goal adding: ‘It will be a very open game because both teams attack a lot.
Marcelo insisted any Real Madrid supporter would welcome Neymar (pictured) to the club
PSG players looked in good spirits as they trained ahead of the Champions League last-16 tie
‘If they score it will hurt us but it will not decide the tie.’ Marcelo admitted he had spoken to Neymar many times since the draw but was also at pains to point out that Madrid’s preparations have not centred entirely on stopping the world’s most expensive player.
He said: ‘I have exchanged various messages with Neymar but not about football. But PSG are not just Neymar they have many very good players. We are not just thinking about Neymar or about just three players.’
On the pressure surrounding a game that will decide Madrid’s season he added: ‘The support for us is very important, every shout for us counts. We are used to the pressure. I’ve been here 11 years and this is normal, nothing has ever been easy. We have to keep a cool head so that we can do our jobs.’
