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Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Neymar are going to vie for the Ballon d'Or once again and even though the latter might not have a big chance of winning it this time, next year could see a different winner on the podium.
It might not be long before he finally becomes the best in the world as his recent performances show that he is a man on a mission at PSG. Neymar Jr has produced some sumptuous moments on the football pitch, which he hopes to produce further. Here, we look at 5 of the best moments of Neymar's career so far.
#5 First El Clásico Goal
October 26, 2013: A full packed Camp Nou awaited Real Madrid for the season's first Clasico and it was the first time in 4 years, two new superstars were the highlights of the show along with traditional nemesis Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. And the one who stole the show was Neymar Jr. What better way to introduce yourself to Real Madrid than score one against them?
Minute 18: Iniesta gets the ball in the midfield, runs forward and provided a short pass to Neymar inside the penalty box. Neymar receives the ball on his left foot, controls it and sets himself up on his right foot by taking a touch and tucks the ball into the far post. The ball goes through Carvajal's legs, slightly touches Varane and settles into the far post, with Diego Lopez having no chance of saving it.
He then set up Alexis Sanchez for Barcelona's second. After spotting the run of Sanchez, Neymar threaded a through ball to the Chilean, splitting two Madrid players as Barcelona won 2-1 on the night and Neymar received a standing ovation in the 85th minute when he was substituted. No better way to announce yourself to the world.
#4 First hat-trick for Barcelona
Neymar Jr. hadn't scored in a Champions League match previously but once he did, he went and scored three. It was the last match-day of the Group stage of the Champions League, and Lionel Messi didn't feature in the match. Barcelona hosted Celtic in Camp Nou and had already qualified for the knockout stage.
Barcelona took the lead early on through Gerard Piqué and made it two after Pedro Rodriguez scored with a simple tap-in, with Neymar setting him up. Neymar scored his first in the 44th minute as Montoya set him up for a simple one-touch finish. His second came in the 48th minute as he played a beautiful one-two with Xavi and then ran with the ball past two defenders and blasted the ball into the net.
He finally completed his first hat-trick for Barcelona in the 58th minute, when he received the ball inside the penalty box, dribbled past a defender, took two touches to set himself up and directed a low shot towards the far post. With the keeper already beaten, the defender could only turn the ball into his own net. Three goals and one assist, certainly one of his best performances for Barcelona.
#3 Champions League triumph
Neymar Jr. has won the Champions League only once, and that came in the 2014/15 season, when Barcelona defeated Juventus at Olympiastadion, Berlin. It was a thrilling game of football. Barcelona took an early lead when Rakiti? slotted the ball home following a wonderful Barcelona move with Neymar heavily involved in the build-up. The Brazilian troubled the Juventus side continuously with his dazzling runs.
Juventus, though, levelled the score through Alvaro Morata and Luis Suarez restored Barcelona's lead once again in the 68th minute. With the score at 2-1, Juventus pushed forward with all their might and were threatening to get the equaliser. However, as they pushed forward, Neymar orchestrated a wonderful counter-attack to take the trophy home.
In the final minutes of the game, Neymar picked up the ball in the midfield, ran all the way to the Juventus goal, passed the ball to Pedro Rodriguez, got the ball back and hammered a low-drive into the net, through the legs of Buffon.
Barcelona won 3-1 and Neymar finally got hold of Champions League Trophy. It was Neymar's best season in Champions league as well, he was the top scorer along with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi and was announced as third best player in Balon d'Or award ceremony.
#2 First senior International trophy
Winning a trophy with your national team is always a source of pride and joy and that's the utmost your nation begs of you as a footballer. Neymar's first International Trophy with his national team came in 2013 when Brazil hosted the Confederations Cup as a prelude to the 2014 World Cup.
Neymar was particularly outstanding for Brazil in this tournament as he scored 4 goals. He scored his first goal against Japan with Brazil winning 3-0. His second goal came in Brazil's second win of the tournament, against Mexico. His third came in a hard-fought victory against Italy, which Brazil won 4-2. In all of Brazil's Group stage matches, Neymar was awarded the man of the match award.
Neymar though didn't score in the semi-final as Brazil won 2-1 against Uruguay, but he did score in the final against Spain, as Brazil won the trophy in front of their home fans.
The former Barcelona star was the competition's second highest goal-scorer and creator as well (2 assists to his name) and was also the player of the tournament as he was awarded the Golden Ball. This certainly was one of the best moments of his career and will be for a long, long time.
#1 The Remontada
After a shambolic 4-0 defeat to PSG at Parc des Princes, everyone at Barcelona knew that it would take a mammoth effort for them just to get level on aggregate; a win, not even in the asking. But what unfolded was one of the greatest ever comebacks in the history of football, if not the greatest.
Barcelona went ahead 3-0 courtesy of a Suarez header, an own-goal and a Messi's penalty- won by Neymar. But, in the second half, Cavani scored one for PSG, seemingly killing off Barca's dream. Barcelona threw everything they could at PSG but the French side held on, until a certain Brazilian decided to take matters into his own hands.
Time was ticking, 87 minutes on the clock, as Neymar was fouled at the edge of the penalty box. The Brazilian scored a wonderful goal from the resulting free kick. He curled the ball over the wall to bring some hope. He then scored his second via a penalty as Suarez was judged to be fouled inside the Penalty box in the 90th minute.
As Barcelona pushed forward for the winner, Neymar picked the ball in the midfield and looked for his teammates before providing a pin-point lofted pass across the PSG defence as Sergi Roberto connected with the ball, in the 95th minute. Celebrations ran wild as PSG were left speechless. In 7 minutes, Neymar completely changed the game's outcome.
He was phenomenal as he was all over the field during the last minutes of the game. This game showed the glimpse of Neymar as a future Ballon d'Or winner. Whenever people will talk about Neymar, they certainly will remember "the Remontada" first. Even neutral fans were left speechless.
And the best of all, Neymar had said before the game that he would score twice, he certainly did. What a game of football.
