Neymar gives Messi painful reminder

Neymar is surely the footballing equivalent of the peacock. His renaissance this season has been thrilling, motivated by the upcoming World Cup in which he’s expected to lead Brazil to glory. Take his performance against Lorient. While it’d be a stretch to describe a trip to Brittany as the French equivalent of Pulis-era Stoke, it had all the ingredients of an awkward match for PSG; upwardly mobile hosts looking to claim a famous scalp against players shielding their limbs before Qatar.

Neymar dismissed such concerns, stepping up in Lionel Messi’s absence by scoring once and providing the assist for Danilo’s winner. But there was another moment that best illustrated Neymar’s chutzpah. With the match level, the forward latched onto a lofted pass and checked for a nanosecond, luring a Lorient defender into a trap. After toying with his prey, Neymar hit the accelerator and left his opponent grabbing his shorts in an attempt to avoid a face-plant on the turf.

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Midfielder Bonke Innocent was left bamboozled, lunging into a tackle and ending up in the Bay of Biscay as Neymar continued his remorseless progress. In the end, Mbappe was unable to capitalise on Neymar’s threaded pass but his casual samba-shuffle through despairing opponents hammered home the point: Neymar hasn’t played this well since his Barcelona days. Throughout his career, Neymar has been forced to carry the mantle of being the Brazilian superstar of his generation.

Neymar has support

Yet, since Brazil’s quarter-final exit at the 2018 World Cup, others have surged to stardom in Europe’s big league with the rise of young samba stars like Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo, Raphinha and Bruno Guimaraes among others. Later this month, Neymar will have a supporting cast of the quality that Brazil used to take for granted. And, more importantly, it won’t be a million miles away from the PSG environment where he’s currently shining.