Neymar Allegedly Negotiated Brazil Break with Lionel Messi After Yellow Card

Neymar reportedly negotiated with Barcelona manager Luis Enrique and the club's captains—among them Lionel Messi—to get some time off to return to Brazil for his sister's birthday after picking up a suspension. 

The 24-year-old collected a fifth yellow card of the season in needless fashion late in Barca's 5-1 victory over Rayo Vallencano last week—see 6:50 in video below—meaning he was automatically suspended for Sunday's 4-0 win over Eibar:

Per AS, it was perhaps an intentional, well-timed move on Neymar's part:

According to Albert Masnou in Sport, he subsequently arranged with Enrique, Messi, Andres Iniesta, Javier Mascherano and Sergio Busquets to travel back to Brazil during his suspension and join his sister for her birthday celebrations—exactly as he did last season.

Per Masnou, Neymar will return to training with the rest of the squad on Thursday—after celebrating his sister's party on Monday night—having only missed one session designated for recovery after Sunday's match.

Sport previously suggested that Neymar's suspension was fortuitous as it meant he would not be in danger of being banned for the clash with Real Madrid on April 2:

Eibar's coach, Jose Luis Mendilibar, suggested a different reason—that he did it on purpose to avoid facing the Basque side—while Dermot Corrigan seemed to agree with AS's assessment:

It was certainly a suspicious booking, coming as it did at 5-1 up with three minutes to go against Rayo, and two months on from his fourth La Liga yellow of the season versus Espanyol, per WhoScored.com.

However, no harm was done as Barca coped admirably in his absence, and Neymar now has a clean slate in the Spanish top flight going into the crucial final stages of the season.

He arguably deserved a break more than most given his immense form this season. Neymar has netted 18 times and provided 10 assists in La Liga as Barca have extended their lead at the top of the table to eight points, per WhoScored.

His contribution alongside Luis Suarez in Messi's injury-enforced absence earlier in the term set the Blaugrana on the path to more La Liga glory, and he has continued to perform brilliantly as the campaign has worn on.

Enrique's smart use of his squad will be vital in the closing stages of the season as Barca go in search of a second consecutive treble, and he should be repaid generously by Neymar for giving him some leeway.