Neymar Left Barcelona to Escape Lionel Messi's Shadow, Says Jeremy Mathieu

Neymar left Barcelona in order to escape the shadow of Lionel Messi and increase his chances of winning the Ballon d'Or, according to former Blaugrana defender Jeremy Mathieu.

Frenchman Mathieu moved from the Camp Nou to Sporting CP in July and will face his former club in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday.

He revealed that Neymar's £200 million departure to Paris Saint-Germain came as a big shock, per Spanish news agency EFE (via Sport):

"At no moment did people think he was going to leave Barca. But that's football, it's like that... it's his decision.

"My opinion is that he left Barca because he was behind Leo [Messi]. I think he wants to win the Ballon d'Or and at the moment he's happy in Paris because he's scoring goals."

Neymar, 25, has hit the ground running at the Parc des Princes. In five Ligue 1 appearances he has netted four goals and provided four assists, and he also scored and set up another in PSG's sole Champions League clash so far this season against Celtic, per WhoScored.com.

Messi, meanwhile, has continued his staggering form at Barcelona.

The Catalans lead La Liga by two points from Sevilla after winning all five of their matches at the start of 2017-18.

Their perfect record is, in no small part, thanks to Messi's incredible return of nine goals and an assist in five appearances—he also netted a double against Juventus in Europe. 

Barca are already seven points ahead of rivals Real Madrid, an unexpected turn of events given Ernesto Valverde's squad was considered too weak before the season started to challenge an impressive Los Blancos group, per AS.

There is still a long way to go, though, and Barca could end up rueing the loss of Neymar when their squad depth is severely tested later in the campaign, especially as replacement Ousmane Dembele is set to be absent through injury until 2018.