Breaking Down Neymar's Performance for Barcelona vs. Real Sociedad

Neymar had more than one reason to celebrate for Barcelona against Real Sociedad.

The game had a typical end-of-season feel and was something of a comedown after the midweek spectacular against Bayern Munich.

That said, over 86,000 people had come out to worship their Blaugrana heroes. A nod to recent successes or knowledge that this could be the last home game of the season? 

At the time of writing, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) are pressing ahead with a players' strike, due to commence after this round of matches.

In any event, this game took a while to get going. David Moyes seemed intent on parking the bus for want of a better phrase.

A back four often became a five, and with La Real's midfield doing their level best to bunch together in pockets and surround Neymar, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, Barcelona's tantalising threesome weren't able to get a foothold in proceedings.

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Indeed, the first 20 minutes passed without anything noticeable from the Brazilian other than a couple of trademark runs which came to nothing.

An early nonchalance was noticeable when a poorly executed step-over went embarrassingly wrong, but as the half progressed, so did Neymar.

His interactions with Adriano down the left channel became more frequent, and with his fellow Brazilian supplying the extra width, Neymar was able to take advantage of the small gaps that were exposed.

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Five minutes before half-time, a ludicrous double drag back on the touchline to keep the ball from going out of play was worth the entrance money alone. It allowed the Catalans to build another attack and was a jaw-dropping piece of skill.

Five minutes after half-time came Neymar's big moment.

Messi hit his straps as he has done so often this season. His arcing ball took a slight deflection from defender Mikel on its trajectory to Neymar, who made no mistake.

The relief inside the Camp Nou was palpable. After losing to Celta Vigo and Malaga at this cavernous amphitheatre of football earlier in the season, the locals were beginning to get nervous.

Only the second headed goal of his Blaugrana career, Neymar's opener settled everyone down and also gave him a 50th in just two seasons. A fine return.

One of the more bizarre moments of the match came just after the hour mark when some super chasing down forced Sociedad keeper Geronimo Rulli into conceding a corner out by the flag.

Rather than race to goal, Rulli stood tall, only to be nutmegged by the Brazilian before getting lucky that the official refused to play the advantage. 

The rest of Neymar's afternoon passed by without too much incident. As much as he huffed and puffed—four successful tackles were part of a work ethic that earned him the man-of-the-match award, per WhoScored.com—he was unable to prove decisive.

It was left for Pedro to settle matters with a quite brilliant bicycle kick, but it was Neymar's afternoon.