Jeered roundly as he celebrated one of the great goals of his career, a match-winning goal against Strasbourg on his return to the Parc Des Princes, but how has the Brazilian icon fallen to such a stage?
Upon arrival, the Brazilian superstar signalled the crowning moment Nasser Al-Khelaifi and Qatari Sports Investments had long desired. A footballing icon to spearhead Paris Saint Germain’s all-out assault on European football had arrived, courtesy of a world record transfer fee of €220 million.
UEFA Champions League
Since the summer of 2017, the 27-year-old has fallen unceremoniously from the top of his perch in Paris. Brought into secure the club’s maiden UEFA Champions League trophy, the furthest the club has ventured is the round-of-16 stage in both the 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons, falling to Real Madrid and Manchester United respectively.
Featuring in only the first leg defeat at the Santiago Bernabeu in February 2018, Neymar has been a powerless onlooker in PSG’s vital European games, as viral gifs of the Manchester United exit have infamously shown. Is the lack of European glory solely to blame for this situation though?
Yes and no, the fans would certainly have expected progression with the likes of Neymar, Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappe leading the team, but the injuries and a clear desire to facilitate a return to Barcelona have left the fans with little choice.
A relationship that strained little by little over the years has reached a toxic low after this summer’s will he or won’t he leave saga, ending with the Brazilian seemingly marooned in Paris.
Five domestic trophies in two seasons are nothing to diminish but failing so miserably on the continent just won’t cut it. As Unai Emery found out, domestic success isn’t enough with the holy grail of the UEFA Champions League hovering over the club.
A seemingly unrepairable relationship is heading to a tumultuous ending but there could be one way to get back in the club’s good books. Lifting that famous trophy in Istanbul come June would go a long way to beginning the reconciliation process between the Brazilian and the fans.
This season’s UCL campaign begins against Real Madrid on Wednesday evening at the Parc des Princes, without a suspended Neymar who carried over a three-match ban for comments made about the refereeing after the Manchester United defeat.
Injuries
21 missed games in 2017/18 and 31 missed games in 2018/19 showcase another underlying frustration between the fans and Neymar. Injuries, of course, are unfortunate, but it is the timing in which he has gone down. In both seasons, his largest spell on the sideline has coincided with the knockout stages of Europe’s premier club competition.
Irritatingly, in 112 competitive fixtures since his arrival in the French capital, the forward has played in just 59 of those games. Considering, however, when he has featured, the Brazilian has contributed 52 goals and 27 assists. Not only capturing the UNFP Ligue 1 Player of the Year in 2017/18, he was also named in the UNFP Team of the Year for his two seasons in the metropolis.
‘Not one of us’
The summer of 2017 not only brought the former Barcelona and Santos man to PSG, it also brought Paris’ prodigal son Kylian Mbappe back from Monaco. What was once undeniably his team, how times have changed. Whether there is any opportunity it will ever be his team again remains to be seen.
Arriving as the saviour and possibly departing as second fiddle to his 20-year-old superstar teammate, what a fall from grace that would be. No doubt a bitter pill to swallow for a man whose move to PSG was manufactured in the first place to try and escape the shadow of one Lionel Messi.
Stating in July that one of the Champions League greatest comebacks featuring Paris Saint Germain and the MSN trifecta, was amongst his best memories in the game and was seemingly the straw that broke the camel’s back.
The second leg was the game Neymar ultimately played a match-winning role in. Even then as he chipped the ball over the defence for Sergi Roberto to score a famous famous goal, it was Messi who received all the plaudits.
It is quite possible history could repeat itself if PSG does go on to lift the Champions League trophy in Istanbul. For the Brazilian international, it is a situation he ultimately has no control over anymore.
Football must come first this season, as a season of retribution that could not only mould his immediate future but also his lasting legacy in the Messi and Ronaldo era. Once perceived as the heir to the throne, his clubmate may never give him the chance to fulfil his dream.
Time for talking is over, Neymar must once again prove to the world why Les Parisiens paid a world record transfer fee for his services. Third place in the 2015 Ballon d’Or voting shows the superstar can reach those levels but this is the season he needs to return to his past heady heights.
As the boos reign down and the fans continue to show their vitriol towards Neymar, all the Brazilian international can do is show the world why he is one of the most talented players of his generation.
BehindClosedDoors 