Neymar’s outstanding form in a poor Brazil side in this year’s World Cup showed that, despite still being only 22, the former Santos prodigy is a man for the big occasion.
In the hot and heady Camp Nou, with nationalist passions running high on both sides, it was Neymar, returning from injury, who made the difference at the weekend, firing a brace to bring his tally to 11 goals in 28 appearances for Barcelona. The striker needed only half an hour to claim 40 eurofantasyleague.com points, and his first goals of the season.
Athletic had given as good as they received as Catalunya took on the Basques amid a high-octane atmosphere on Saturday afternoon and, with 10 minutes remaining, were looking good to take a point from the early Primera leaders. Two moments of combined brilliance between Lionel Messi and Neymar changed all that, however, after the Brazilian had replaced the misfiring Munir El Haddadi just after the hour.
Messi first latched on to a misplaced pass and played an audacious cross-field ball into the path of Neymar, who controlled before driving a shot into the opposite corner. Then the game was settled when Messi burst down the right wing uncontested before flicking back towards Neymar, who side-footed expertly into the bottom corner.
It was cool finishing in both cases from Neymar, who missed Barca’s opening game of the season with an ankle injury and is being gently reintroduced to first-team action by Coach Luis Enrique, who has deployed the Brazilian sparingly from the bench in each of the last two matches. Neymar’s double against Athletic not only snatched three points when one had looked inevitable, but also helped to maintain the Catalans’ faultless start.
Enrique also looks to be nurturing Neymar’s partnership with Messi. It was the vision of the unselfish Argentine – himself requiring just two goals to reach the 400 mark for club and country – that set up Neymar for both his goals against Athletic and demonstrated just how effectively the two South Americans are able to combine.
It is a far cry from the barren days of Tata Martino, when severe doubts were cast on the pair’s ability to even play in the same team.
Neymar’s capacity to make such a game-changing impact from the bench demonstrates what a valuable asset he is to Enrique, as well as his powers of recovery. Stretchered off with a fractured vertebra in the closing stages of the World Cup quarter-final against Colombia, not only would he miss the remainder of the tournament – thus being spared the 7-1 semi-final humiliation at the hands of Germany – but there were also fears he would be out of action as La Liga got underway.
The Messi-Neymar partnership is showing real signs of blossoming into something extremely powerful, but it is also emblematic of a freshness, both in Barcelona’s line-up and in the way they play. Ivan Rakitic has revitalised the midfield, providing a new source of creativity, while the wiles of Messi and the power and guile of Neymar up front is supplemented by the new young talents of Munir and Sandro Ramirez, promoted from Barcelona B.
If Messi and Neymar both stay fit, their pairing could be the key to Barca’s return to form.
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