They had, in a way, already gone into ATP Tour mode on Saturday evening at the Gabriel-Montpied stadium. Two days after their success with a tennis score (1-6) in Clermont, Neymar and Marco Verratti changed their playing field, temporarily leaving the lawns of Ligue 1 for the clay courts of Monte-Carlo. This Monday, at the invitation of Replay, sponsor of the tournament of which the Brazilian is the muse, the two PSG players came to fill the boxes to attend the first day of the event in the Principality.
The Italian midfielder took advantage of the windfall to support his compatriot Fabio Fognini who faced the French Arthur Rinderknech. Useful support since the Transalpin, winner of the event in 2019, won in three rounds against the native of Gassin, who will not have lasted long for his first participation on the Rock.
Spectators in the stands, Neymar and Marco Verratti, on the other hand, were more lively behind the scenes. The two Parisians thus improvised a short juggling session with world number one Novak Djokovic whom they invited, for a few seconds, to express themselves with the ball at their feet. In a circle, the two footballers dressed “in civilian clothes” and the tennis player in shorts – basket chained a few juggles without dropping the ball before “Djoko” triggered general hilarity by ending the exchange in s tangling the brushes a bit.
A symbolic “victory” for Neymar who will face Djokovic’s Serbia on November 24 with Brazil at the World Cup in Qatar. The two Parisians will be back at Camp des Loges this Tuesday (11:30 a.m.) for the first training session of the week before the Clasico against OM scheduled for Sunday evening.
