Barcelona: Wednesday March 8, 2017. Barcelona. Approximately 10.27pm local time. Neymar Jr fires an exocet past Kevin Trapp in the Paris Saint-Germain goal and so it begins — again. The most improbable comeback in the history of the Champions League. Perhaps even in the annals of the beautiful game.
Two minutes later and the Brazilian perfectly dispatches a penalty, and within another five minutes his perfectly weighted and lofted pass is reached by Sergi Roberto. The net ripples. Cue pandemonium on a scale never before seen at the Camp Nou.
The only moment that can perhaps ever come close in terms of pure, unadulterated joy for Barcelona fans at their cavernous home, is in the aftermath of Rivaldo’s bicycle kick against Valencia, where in 2001 the Brazilian’s La Liga winner spared Barca from the unthinkable — failing to qualify for the Champions League.
But this, this was out on its own as pure footballing theatre.
Fast forward a week and now that the celebrations have died down, let’s be clear on who the real match winner was.
Neymar comes in for a fair share of criticism for his showboating and a penchant for triple somersaults with pike if an opponent is late into a challenge, and it’s true that such antics have no real place in the beautiful game.
But when the Brazilian is at his best — as he was on Wednesday — the spectacle really is beautiful. The artistic brush strokes of a master at work.
Lionel Messi has quite a bit left in the tank and will be around for a while yet, but as Neymar matures, he is looking more and more likely to be the genuine heir to the Argentinian.
Lest we forget that when he signed for the Catalans, he was immediately dismissed as a pretender and one whose ego knew no bounds. It wasn’t possible for him to deign to another.
Yet, after a patchy first season, he played the fullest part in Barcelona’s second treble and continues to improve his all-round game.
He has more goals at this stage of his career than both Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, though that’s but a neat side-note for the statisticians. What’s blatantly obvious at this point is that his work-rate, in-game intelligence, passing and decision making are all improving.
Only just 25, there is plenty of time yet for him to win his first, deserved, Ballon d’Or, and if there’s such a thing as a foregone conclusion, this is it.
Neymar had suggested before taking to the pitch on Wednesday that he would score two goals and Barcelona would turn around their 4-0 first-leg defeat. Not many walk the walk after such predictions, but his mentality above all else is what will drive him forward and over the line to become the new hero at Camp Nou.
The King isn’t dead yet, but his throne is already in good hands.
