Marco Verratti: 'Paris Saint-Germain are a great team even without Neymar'

Marco Verratti has claimed that Paris Saint-Germain are still a great team without Neymar.

The Ligue 1 giants were held to a goalless draw away to Montpellier HSC on Saturday in the absence of the Brazil international, who was missing through injury.

Despite failing to break down a resolute Paillade side, midfielder Verratti insists that PSG are still capable of thriving without the world's most expensive player.

The Italian told Goal.com: "It's like Barcelona without Lionel Messi or Real Madrid without Cristiano Ronaldo – it is not because Neymar was not there that PSG hasn't won. We are a great team, even without him. It will just be a matter of turning words into action the next time the situation arises.

"It was a tough game, there was not a lot of space. We played at 100%. The concentration is there. We did not let Montpellier have a single shot. It got harder to score the longer the time went on. We did have opportunities.

"After six matchdays, it can happen that there is a difficult one. Now we have to think about the Champions League."

Neymar, who joined in a record £198m deal from Barcelona, has scored four goals and tallied as many assists in his first five games in the French top flight.