“We are talking about a unique player, special”.
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Barcelona sporting director Robert Fernandez has “no doubt” Neymar will renew his contract and snub interest from Manchester United.
However, the match will be remembered mainly for the individual skill that brought Neymar his second goal and Barcelona their third in the 85th minute, when he collected the ball from Suarez, fashioned a clever chip over bamboozled marker Jaume Costa and volleyed low into the net.
The victory put Barca three points ahead of Real Madrid at the top of the Liga table, ahead of los Blancos’ game at Sevilla later on Sunday evening.
Alongside Luis Suarez, the 23-year-old has propelled Barcelona to the brink of the knockout stages of the Champions League and to second in La Liga on goal difference – all in the absence of Lionel Messi.
The Brazilian enjoyed five remarkable years at the Camp Nou between 2003 and 2008, winning two league championships, two Copa del Rey titles and the UEFA Champions League.
Barcelona eased their way to the top of the Primera Division standings with a 3-0 win over Villarreal on the weekend.
“Until the first goal, they were dominant, but we had set out our stall well and weren’t being unduly troubled”, he said.
Here is Neymar’s first goal from the game, but it is nowhere near as pretty as the first one.
Gareth Bale was fit to return to the Real attack after missing the previous four games while Rodriguez started on the bench, having returned to the squad after nearly two months out through injury.
The wonderful fact comes despite Messi being the second-highest goalscorers over the last three season, his total of 74 goals bettered only by Ronaldo’s tally of 87.
It was always unlikely that Neymar would move to Old Trafford and it seems like it is only a matter of time until he signs a new deal with Barcelona.
Barcelona is taking on Villarreal on Sunday and they’re running away with things. “Whenever we opened our mouths, it was a yellow card”.
“A game of the caliber of the “clasico” is different and I hope that the team will respond after this defeat”, Benitez said. Now, it’ll be intriguing to see whether or not Messi can play a similar role in the development of Neymar in years to come.
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And there may just be something in the water in Spain this weekend, as spectacular goals were not hard to come by, just look at this effort from Bilbao Inaki Williams.
