Neymar Can Grow Again in Lionel Messi's Absence as He Hauls Barcelona Forward

The negative fuss kicked up around Neymar for his outlandish skills is farcical. Farcical at best.

“He’s disrespecting opponents,” cry his detractors, usually speaking on bombastic Spanish television programmes like El Chiringuito.  “He’s embarrassing them. It’s not right.” 

But when it comes to the highest level of judging panel in Spanish football, he passes muster.

The managers of the country’s top three clubs were asked about the forward and his penchant to try tricks. 

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

His own coach, Luis Enrique, obviously came out in his defence. 

"Neymar has his own style, which I consider spectacular. He understands football that way and we enjoy him a lot at Barca,” he said, per Sport.  "There are other players that see football like this. It's a cultural thing—with South American and Brazilian players, especially. Everyone can interpret that as they see fit. I like what he does and I invite him to continue entertaining and allowing us to enjoy him.”

Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane also backed the Barcelona man. 

"Everyone interprets football how they think, and that's how he interprets it. He does things that very few players can do,” Zidane said, according to Sport.  “I don't think it's provocation, but you'd have to ask him."

Martin Meissner/Associated Press

And perhaps the most eloquent on the subject was Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone.

“He's found his place in Barcelona to express his talent,” explained the Argentinian coach, as noted in another Sport article.   "Neymar has that way of playing. Everyone has their style. I love it. Neymar sings, dances and destroys. He speaks where he has to—on the pitch."

With the managers of Barcelona, Madrid and Atletico on his side, Neymar can feel protected from the campaign that seemed to be mounting against him. Which is just as well, because his team need him now, more than ever. 

Or, rather, as much as they did at a similar stage of the season last year.

It was September 26 that Lionel Messi fell awkwardly in the opening stages of Barcelona’s La Liga clash with Las Palmas and tore his lateral collateral ligament in his left knee. 

Paul White/Associated Press

The forward was given an eight-week recovery period, and that put the onus on Neymar and Luis Suarez to keep the team fighting on three fronts in the absence of their talismanic No. 10. 

And they did. Suarez started it, with two goals in that Las Palmas game earning Barcelona a slim 2-1 victory. 

Although they went down by the same score against Sevilla, soon the two forwards were collaborating brilliantly.

It was the period between then and Messi’s return against Real Madrid in late November that drove Neymar’s Ballon d’Or bid, with the star eventually finishing third.

His whole game changed, controlling Barcelona’s play and being the man to pull the strings like Messi would have if he was there.

Neymar’s sensational goal against Villarreal was the peak of that spell, a goal that stopped the Camp Nou from chanting Messi’s name and made them start to chant his.

Emilio Morenatti/Associated Press

The two South American hitmen scored 18 of Barcelona’s 19 league goals in the period of Messi’s absence, with Neymar getting 11 in all competitions across that spell.

When Messi returned, it was just as impressive to see Neymar snap back into his role on the left, fulfilling the same duties he did before, as if nothing had changed. As if he hadn’t shown he has the creative ability to be the heart of Barcelona’s play instead of a wingman to the Argentinian.

The Brazilian knows his time will come. Messi is 29, and Neymar is 24—a five-year gap. And until that moment, he will always have moments like these in which he can be the main man, as well as international football.

Signing a new contract and winning Olympic gold with Brazil were two big events in Neymar’s summer, which should go some way to ensuring he is mentally at his best for this campaign.

It also seemed like the fraud case regarding his transfer to Barcelona had been dealt with, although it has recently been reopened.

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press/Associated Press

A statistic from Diario Gol (link in Spanish) highlights how Neymar’s goal rate improves drastically when Messi is not playing. He goes an average of 157.8 minutes per strike when playing with his friend, but just 80 minutes between goals when the Argentinian is not in the team.

If you asked Neymar, he would tell you that he prefers to play with Messi, although it’s clear he’s more productive in a numerical sense without the No. 10.

Luis Enrique has tried to make it clear on several occasions that he does not expect more from Suarez and Neymar in Messi’s absence, just for the pair to keep doing what they do.

Per Reuters, he said: “I expect the best version of all of my players, the same as when we have Leo. I'm not going to ask them for anything extra because they already give that in every game.  It's obvious that we are going to experience different situations without Messi but we must adapt.”

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

This time, Messi is only expected to miss a few games, the first of which was Barcelona’s 5-0 win over Sporting Gijon. In this match, it was already obvious that Neymar has assumed the role of the team’s Superman.

It was Neymar, starting from a central position, feeding the ball out to Sergi Roberto on the right as Barcelona netted their second goal. The full-back crossed for Rafinha to head home, a good cross, but Neymar’s vision to spot his run was impressive.

Neymar grabbed Barcelona’s third, from a move he started in the centre circle. It was another sweeping pass out to Roberto that started it, with the Catalan crossing for Paco Alcacer to smash a strike off the crossbar. Neymar was following it up, having sprinted forward after getting the play going.

He finished the fifth himself, peeling off his man in the box to receive the ball and slide it home to complete Barcelona’s rout.

Barcelona’s next games see them face Borussia Monchengladbach and Celta Vigo, before the international break arrives. After that, Messi should return, as long as his injury recovery progresses as forecast. 

Neymar, therefore, has less time to carry the team, which makes it more essential than ever that he starts immediately, which he did against the Asturians without a bedding-in period. 

Heading to Germany to face Die Fohlen (The Foals) will not be an easy game, likewise the trip to Balaidos. With Messi off the scene, Neymar progressed hugely last season and Barcelona would be thrilled if he could do the same again this time around. 

Moving onwards and upwards is the player’s aim, even if the debate surrounding him and his skills rarely does.

Rik Sharma is Bleacher Report's lead Barcelona correspondent. All information and quotes obtained firsthand unless specified. Follow him on Twitter here: @riksharma_.