Neymar’s Bayern masterclass shows that PSG ace still has Ballon d’Or potential
Neymar might have seen his Ballon d’Or hopes crushed as Paris Saint-Germain hosted Bayern Munich on Tuesday. A 1-0 defeat, however, was enough to see the Ligue 1 champions sneak through and book a semi-final against Borussia Dortmund or, more likely, Manchester City.
And although PSG lost the match, it was the scintillating performance from Neymar that left fans salivating. It showed that he will have a say in the outcome of the 2021 Ballon d’Or, despite being eclipsed by club-mate Kylian Mbappe in recent rounds of the competition.
Neymar was brilliant for PSG against Bayern Munich
So often injured when it has come to the European crunch time with PSG, Neymar seemed intent on making up for lost time in previous Champions League seasons while with the Ligue 1 side.
He did everything but score. In the first half, Neymar hit both the bar and the post. Early in the second half, a crossed ball barely six inches from the line eluded him by the finest of margins as he swept at it gamely. He was brilliantly denied, too, by Manuel Neuer, whose giant frame had such a decisive say when these clubs met in the final last August, a match the Bavarians won by a solitary goal.
Throughout, Neymar regaled the watching masses on television with a succession of tricks, flicks and individual technical skills that merited to be played out on a grander stage. At times it seemed he was showboating. Instead, he was playing with a swagger that PSG have missed at clutch times in their recent history.
With 12 minutes left, he released Kylian Mbappe for the striker to lash past Neuer into the roof of the net. He was denied an assist by a marginal but correct offside decision.
This was just one of several dangerous threaded passes Neymar produced over the course of the game. It was incredible that not a single one resulted in a goal. His ability to find space was unparalleled on the field, while his imagination when he was on the ball was formidable.
His match was best encapsulated in a moment of brilliance in the first half when he gathered the ball in the left corner of the box. With a brilliant drag back, he left Kingsley Coman looking foolish while fashioning the room to get a shot away at goal. Despite a limited backlift, Neymar improvised brilliantly to send a spinning lob over Neuer and onto the bar.
Given Mehdi Taremi’s brilliant overhead kick for Porto against Chelsea, it may not even have been considered goal of the night had it found its mark, but it would have been one to be written into PSG history.
And that was all that was lacking from Neymar in a tie in which PSG produced arguably their best result of the QSI era.
Neymar could still end 2021 with the elusive Ballon d'Or trophy
This is the standard that PSG need to meet if they are to win the Champions League, and this is the standard that Neymar must achieve if he is to one day realise his dream of winning the Ballon d’Or. That, after all, is why he departed Barcelona to move to France.
But although he escaped Lionel Messi’s shadow at Camp Nou, he has found himself pushed into the shadow of Mbappe at Parc des Princes. Circumstances have certainly played their part, with Neymar’s unhappy knack of being injured at crunch moments counting against both him and his side.
Mbappe, too, has come good at clutch times in the Champions League this season, most notably with the hat-trick he scored against Barcelona and then his double in Munich last week.
But, given the opportunity to run a game, Neymar showed on Tuesday that he remains a unique performer – and one who has the ability to unsettle even the greatest teams in the world with his blend of insouciance and brilliance.
All he needed was a little luck, and his display would have been remembered as one for the ages.
“I’m very happy, despite the defeat,” Neymar told RMC after the game. “We’re a great team and we showed it tonight. We’ve knocked out the European champions.
“Now we’re in the semi-finals and we still have to work more and improve.”
Indeed, Manchester City or Borussia Dortmund lie ahead for PSG and Neymar, who are one step closer to completing their respective goals of Champions League glory and a Ballon d’Or title. He proved on Tuesday that his talent richly deserves the Ballon d'Or
Also read: 5 things Neymar needs to do to win the 2021 Ballon d'Or