5 best players in Europe's Top 5 leagues this season
Europe is the proverbial 'Island of the Blessed' when it comes to football and nothing serves excitement to our noggins like an action-packed weekend of exhilarating, top-flight European football.
The glitz, the skills, the noise, the excitement, the wonderment, the excitement... phew, I could go on and on and still wouldn't have expressed myself entirely. And when you play at the biggest of stages, you gotta shoulder the weight of expectations from around the world.
After all, with great power comes great responsibility. And in this slideshow, we will be looking at those players who have been delivering the goods at the top level, unflinching and apathetic about the magnitude of it all.
We'll be looking at one standout performer from each of Europe's Top 5 Leagues, namely the Ligue 1, Bundesliga, Serie A, La Liga and the Premier League.
So, let's kick on then:
#5 Ligue 1 - Neymar Jr. (Paris Saint-Germain)
"Price is what you pay. Value is what you get."
Neymar Jr. wanted to break out of Messi's shadow at Barcelona and the world inveighed against his audacity. "How dare he?" And then they lost their collective cool when a price of €222m was quoted.
Well, why should we care about where the Parisians get their money from? It's their business after all. And as far as business decisions go, who can fault them for sending Barcelona an arm and a leg to rope in Neymar?
Neymar has been spectacular for PSG this season, so far, and has shown no signs of putting the brakes on.
As per Whoscored.com, Neymar has a rating of 8.97 from 17 appearances. In the Ligue 1, the Brazilian wizard has scored 18 and assisted a further 11 goals. He has been directly involved in 29 of PSG's goals this season from 17 appearances so far! Oh, I'd pay all the money I had, mate.
Just add this stupefying number to the mix and you'll get a fair idea of how good Neymar has been: Neymar has created a total of 61 chances for PSG this season.
Filth.
And now, I invite you to see how he goes about it. Yeah, the flicks, the tricks, the rainbow, the hocus pocus... sigh, the whole fricking deal: