Brazilian star Neymar claims that his own club club were too cautious over his rib injury.

The french giants lost 2-1 to Borussia Dortmund in the first of two games in the Champions League.

Neymar criticized the club for not giving him time to get his sharpness back after injury before the last-16 tie.

The French champions, who have been knocked out at this stage for the past three seasons, looked unusually ponderous, with Neymar a pale shadow of his brilliant self despite scoring PSG’s goal.

“It’s hard not to play for four games,” Neymar said. “Unfortunately it was not my choice, it came from the club, the doctors; they’re the ones who made the decision, one that I did not like. We’ve had a lot of discussions on that. I wanted to play, I was feeling well but the club were afraid, and in the end I’m the one suffering.”

Not happy

“I understand the fear that the club was suffering from, because in the last two years I was not able to play in the round of 16. I respect the decision, but it cannot be like this, because the player ends up suffering.

“It was very difficult to play a match like this, intense, 90 minutes without stopping. It is different. Had I been in better shape, I would certainly have played better.”

The whole PSG team were outshone by the Norwegian teenager Erling Braut Haaland, who scored twice.