With only one point separating Barcelona and Real Madrid in the Liga BBVA standings, the Catalan giants will play hosts to Los Blancos at Camp Nou on Sunday, a game which could easily prove to be the title decider in the race for the league crown.
All eyes will be on Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for the latest edition of El Clasico. The competition between the two Liga BBVA aces for the title of the world’s best player has reached new heights, overshadowing all others who wish to dominate the beautiful game.
Fans will be eager to watch the Argentine and Portuguese attackers exhibit their talents, and do what they do best, but whilst all the hype surrounds Leo and Cristiano, it will be La Pulga’s teammate Neymar who steals the spotlight.
The Brazilian attacker has been in excellent form this season, recording a whopping 17 goals and four assists in 23 games in La Liga so far. He is the league’s third highest scorer. This is a tremendous improvement from his debut season in Spain where he only netted 9 times.
Stats are not all the 23-year-old has going his way this term, however. The former Santos ace has stepped up his game and shown the world he can perform at the highest level, when it counts the most, shining in clashes with La Liga and Europe's top sides.
In a tightly-contested Copa del Rey match with reigning Spanish Primera Division champions Atletico Madrid, having conceded early in the 1st minute, the Selecao captain finished off a swift counter-attack to bring the Blaugrana level eight minutes later.
He then went on to complete his brace, scoring the winning goal in the thrilling 3-2 win. This personifies Neymar’s new found confidence and ability to dispatch even the greatest of opponents.
This weekend, he will come up against the fiercest of rivals, in a high-stake game, but don’t expect the Brazilian to be fazed by this.
In his first ever Clasico appearance, it took Neymar only 18 minutes to score on his debut, before assisting Sanchez for the 2nd goal in the 2-1 win.
Fast forward to this season, and the Brazilian was once again on target vs. Los Blancos, shocking the home crowd by netting past Iker Casillas after only four minutes of play. He was unable to prevent his team from losing, eventually being defeated 3-1.
All the attention may be on Messi and Ronaldo, but don’t rule out Neymar to steal the spotlight.
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