Neymar miss: Watch PSG star's incredible Champions League sitter vs Atalanta

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Matt Davies12 August 2020

Neymar missed a glorious opportunity to give Paris Saint-Germain a crucial early lead in their one-off Champions League quarter-final tie against Atalanta.

With star striker Kylian Mbappe fit enough only for the bench, much of the goalscoring onus fell to the Brazilian, who scored 13 goals in 15 Ligue 1 appearances this season.

The 28-year-old presented himself with a chance he could only dream about just four minutes in, bursting clear after the ball fell loose on the halfway line.

With an automated crowd set to erupt, Neymar inexplicably failed to hit the target, missing by some margin with just the goalkeeper to beat from 12 yards out.

In fairness to Neymar, he could hardly be described as match-fit. It is just the second competitive game the French champions have played since early March, having won the Coupe de France on penalties after the Ligue 1 campaign curtailed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

However, on PSG's 50th birthday, and having not reached the Champions League semi-finals since 1995, it was a chance he simply had to score.

A PSG win could see Neymar in a mouth-watering semi-final up against his former club Barcelona - should the Spanish giants overcome the stern challenge of Bayern Munich, of course.

And with a Mario Pasalic goal giving Atalanta the lead just 20 minutes after, Neymar will hope his miss doesn't prove costly.

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