Breaking Down Neymar's Performance for Barcelona vs. Bayern Munich
Neymar and Barcelona head to Berlin after losing to Bayern Munich 3-2 on Tuesday night, but qualifying for the Champions League final by virtue of the two away goals scored by the Brazilian.
As expected, the Germans came racing out of the blocks, and it wasn't really too much of a surprise when Mehdi Benatia headed them into a seventh-minute lead.
Luis Enrique will be scratching his head at how the defender managed to have the freedom of the Allianz Arena to power home, but Pep Guardiola will be equally miffed, as no sooner had his side been given a glimmer than the baton was taken from them again.
Lionel Messi's defence-splitting pass found Luis Suarez in an onside position, and his pinpoint pass landed at the feet of Neymar. Offside in the original phase of play but not interfering, the Brazilian was handed the simplest of tap-ins on the quarter hour.
Prior to his opener, Neymar had begun the game in much the same way as he had done during the first leg. A step over here and there, and a few confident early touches, but nothing to write home about.
His passing was at least crisp and accurate if not as incisive as perhaps Enrique might have liked.
No matter. When his big moment came, Neymar made no mistake, and it would put the Blaugrana back in the box seat.
Almost another quarter of an hour had passed when the same trio linked up again, in the same order.
This time Messi won a header in midfield, but so high was the Bayern back line that Suarez was in acres of space before he crossed for Neymar to expertly beat Manuel Neuer at his near post.
With those goals the youngster had now found the net in all but one of his last 10 games, per WhoScored.com. A real hot streak in goalscoring terms.
The intelligence in his work off the ball was far more eye-catching too, whether via a run in behind or drawing the opposition defenders across the line, thus allowing Messi and others to play the ball into the space left behind, normally for Jordi Alba to collect.
We saw the latter again on at least four occasions in the first 45 minutes; Bayern were unable to stop what is fast becoming one of Barca's signature moves.
The second period saw Neymar huff and puff but never look likely to blow Bayern's house down, and for long periods the Bavarians took control of proceedings.
Barca were content to take their foot off the gas, and it almost became their undoing. At 3-2, another Bayern goal would really have set the cat among the pigeons.
With Suarez and Rakitic off, there was no urgency from the Blaugrana, and Neymar in particular became far too casual in possession. He went looking for fouls that weren't there and needlessly gave the ball away.
The chance of a fabulous hat-trick came his way late on, but as he bore down on goal, a pass to a supporting Messi was the wrong choice, and the chance was gone.
We can only assume that thoughts of Messi handing him the penalty at Cordoba, when the Argentinian had his own chance at a hat-trick, may have played on Neymar's mind in that split second.
Why else would he pass in such an excellent goalscoring position?
In any event, he can be pleased with an 81 percent pass accuracy, per WhoScored, and a good night's work in general.
Next stop, Berlin.
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