5 reasons why Neymar will outshine Cristiano Ronaldo in the Champions League

The most awaited Champions League round of 16 tie is going to take place between Real Madrid and Paris-Saint Germain. The two teams are highly star-studded, which makes it a center of attention for the football fraternity, but there is a contrast in the two teams at this point of time.

And it is as apparent as the sun on a clear day. Real Madrid are currently under fire for their erratic form, while Paris-Saint Germain are among the most in-form and deadly teams in Europe. As these two giants are facing each other, it is only natural for the focus to be on their respective star players.

Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo.

In a match where these two will feature, the onus is on them to come up with performances that will help their own teams with the game. There is, however, a good chance that the Brazilian will edge out his Portuguese counterpart.

And here are 5 reasons why…

---

#5 Cristiano in decline

Both Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar share the same birthday. Neymar, however, is 7 years younger to the Portugal captain, who is 33 right now and has just set foot in his twilight years. This time last year, the Portuguese was only just beginning to reach his peak form.

This year, though, he is on the decline.

Not only has the Portuguese lost a lot of pace, he is slower in his reactions and wayward in his precision. While his off-the-ball movements are still very dangerous—and that only gets better with age—the speed required to act upon it and make full use of it is slowly waning.

And that can be seen in almost every Real Madrid game, against much inferior opposition when compared to the Parisians.

#4 Neymar reaching his peak

Neymar is in prime form

As mentioned earlier, the Brazilian shares the same birthday as the Real Madrid star. And he has just turned 26, which is the beginning of his peak years as an attacker. Indeed, we can all take a leaf out of Cristiano Ronaldo’s history book and know that 26-31 are perhaps the best years for an attacker.

And it is truly visible in the case of the Brazilian.

While the former Barcelona star is playing in an inferior league compared to La Liga, his performances in the Ligue 1 is nothing short of extraordinary. Time and time again, he has shown that he might be much bigger than the league itself.

The way he currently leads the attack for the Parisians only adds more to his confidence.

#3 System around Neymar

He is in indeed priceless

When Neymar played for Barcelona, he was just a part of the system made to serve Lionel Messi. Only the Argentine enjoyed full freedom and no tactical burden whatsoever to do the dirty work. Neymar now enjoys the same privilege in France, which is perhaps why he left Barcelona in the first place.

Unai Emery might be a character that divides opinions, but credit has to be given to him for carving out a system that fits all three flamboyant attackers in the mould of Kylian Mbappe, Edinson Cavani and Neymar.

Neymar has been given the freedom to do anything he wants, without having to think about the tactical shape of the team. Cristiano Ronaldo also enjoys the same pleasure at Real Madrid, but what separates Neymar from him is that the…

#2 Brazilian is more skillful

Neymar is highly skilled

This might hurt a lot of Cristiano Ronaldo fans. After all, this is a guy who has won 5 Ballon d’Ors and is the holder of the accolade as you read this. What can’t be denied, however, is that he is no longer the player that could dribble past his opponents and create magic.

Apart from goalscoring, the Portuguese doesn’t really have much to his arsenal. His passing sense is poor and his dribbling is even worse.

This is where Neymar exceeds him right now. The former Santos star is not only a good goalscorer, he is also brilliant dribbler and passer of the ball. One can never really forget his assist to Sergi Roberto for Barcelona’s 6th goal against PSG in their 6-1 comeback rout.

In short, Neymar has more to his game than Cristiano Ronaldo—and that alone gives him the edge to do better than him.

#1 PSG is the in-form team

Just look at this attack

The form of forwards relies mainly on the form of the team—or at least in the larger scope of things. For Cristiano Ronaldo to succeed, he needs to be delivered with defence-piercing balls consistently. A failure to do that renders him obsolete.

This is one of the reasons why he has been very poor in the league. The Madrid outfit just can’t seem to get the ground running with their inconsistent displays. One day they are thrashing a team off the park and the other, they are getting beaten by a lowly outfit.

Meanwhile Paris-Saint Germain are a team in form. They already have a 10-point lead over AS Monaco in the French Ligue 1, with a game in hand, and have scored 76 goals in 25 games—which is just over 3 goals-per-game.

As a result, Neymar is likely to get better support from his team-mates than the Portuguese.