Neymar Injury Far from Ideal, but It Comes at a Good Time for Barcelona

Without a doubt, Neymar has been Barcelona's player of the season so far.

In the absence of Lionel Messi, the young Brazilian stepped up and assumed the full responsibility for chance creation and goals alongside Luis Suarez.

Per WhoScored.com, in his last 11 matches, Barca's No. 11 has scored 13, assisted eight and been awarded the man-of-the-match accolade on eight separate occasions.

In any language, that is a whole other level of brilliance and, stats aside, the Brazilian has looked dangerous at every turn and brought an omnipresent attacking threat to his role—something that has almost exclusively been the preserve of Messi to this point.

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Design: Season stats Neymar #fcblive pic.twitter.com/pL31EsR4U7

— Haitham Culé (@fcbnews_) December 11, 2015"

Neymar's confidence and particular way of going about his work presently has rendered him almost unstoppable. Opponents are having to resort to the darker arts at times in order to nullify the wunderkind.

Easier said than done on current form.

To that end, a groin injury sustained at training per FCBarcelona.com isn't the best news, as it will lay the player low for at least a couple of matches.

Where the Catalans have perhaps had an extraordinary stroke of luck is the timing of the injury.

Deportivo La Coruna are next up for Barca at the Camp Nou, and although the Galicians have enjoyed a great start to the campaign, the fact is that they haven't beaten Barcelona home or away for seven years, per Fussball Wettpoint.

Once that La Liga game is out of the way, Barca fly to Japan for the Club World Cup.

With the greatest respect, there may be kudos attached to being "world champions" but in terms of priorities, the title is well down the list.

In any event, the likes of Club America and Guangzhou Evergrande shouldn't present too much of a problem for the Catalans, even sans Neymar.

Assuming Barca qualify for the final, then River Plate are a step up in class, but if the Blaugrana play to anywhere near their potential, the result isn't in doubt.

Neymar may yet be fit for the final, according to his father. In an interview with ESPN Brazil (via Sport) Neymar Sr. noted:

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It's an injury like any other level two injury. It will keep Neymar out of action for at least one week.

I believe he will be OK for the [Club World Cup] final, the semi-final [I’m not so sure].

He will work hard, though, to recover soon as possible.

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Whether or not he plays some part, a 10-day hiatus from league duties follows, with Real Betis not due in town until the December 30.

With La Liga still Barca's bread and butter, it's arguable that Luis Enrique would prefer his "Pichichi" (top goalscorer) fit and firing on all cylinders by then, rather than taking any risks in Japan.

It was at the beginning of this new year when Barca's attacking trio really kicked into gear, and with Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal on the scene from January 1, together with any new signings the club may wish to make, there'll be some midseason impetus for the club this time around, too.

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10 days till Club World Cup final 27 days till Arda and Vidal return 31 days till Messi's Ballon d'Or.. pic.twitter.com/udVE6bYuDn

— Leo Messi (@messi10stats) December 11, 2015"

A fortnight's rest at this stage may do Neymar some good. The rigours of league, cup and Champions League fixtures will be coming thick and fast from mid-January onwards, and no team has ever won any silverware of note in the first month of the year.

It would be a shame for the player personally, since he also missed out in the Spanish Cup final thanks to mumps at the beginning of the season; however, short-term pain for long-term gain is most definitely the order of the day here.

Lest we forget, Neymar is still only 23 years of age and has plenty of time on his hands. A studious management of any injury situations now will pay dividends for player and club later on.