"I helped Messi take penalties!" - Neymar makes big behind-the-scenes revelation about training at Barcelona

Neymar Jr revealed that he once helped Lionel Messi take penalties during their time together at Barcelona. The duo played together for the Catalan giants between 2013 and 2017.

Over their four seasons at Barcelona, Messi and Neymar shared the pitch in 161 games together, recording 56 joint-goal participations. They also led the Catalan giants to their historic second treble in the 2014-15 season. The two formed one of the greatest attacking trios with football at the club alongside Luis Suarez. In 2017, the Brazilian left the club to join Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) for a record €222 million transfer fee.

In an interview on the Podpah podcast, Neymar recalled how he once taught Lionel Messi to take penalties during training at Barca. The Brazilian said (via Fabrizio Romano):

"I helped Messi take penalties! We were in training, he asked me… How do you take penalties like that? I was like: Are you crazy? You’re Messi if I can do it, you can too. Then I taught him and he trained."

The Selecao superstar is often considered among the best penalty-takers of all time. He has scored an overall 88 penalties for club and country and missed only 18 of them.

During his time at Santos, he had a unique penalty technique that worked in his favor. The former Blaugrana superstar would stop for a moment before taking his shot in front of the goalkeeper. This enabled the shot-stopper to dive either on the left or right before time which helped him convert the shot. In May 2010, FIFA banned the technique as it was considered unfair to goalkeepers.

When Lionel Messi claimed Neymar regretted leaving Barcelona in 2017

FC Barcelona v Sevilla FC - La Liga - Source: Getty

In a 2020 interview with Mundo Deportivo, Lionel Messi spoke about Neymar Jr's surprising departure from Barcelona in 2017. The Argentine superstar said (via One Football):

“It bothered me at the time [when he left] and we tried to convince him not to do it. He’s one of the best players in the world and he brought a lot to the team. But it’s understandable that people would see it as leaving in a bad way. He is desperate to return and has always appeared to regret his decision."

"He did a lot to come back and that would be the first step in making it happen. He was always fine at Barca, performing at a very high level. He’s a different type of player who is difficult to stop one-on-one and score goals.”

In 2021, the legendary Argentine left Barcelona to join Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) as a free agent. At that time, he was reunited with the Brazilian once again. In overall 206 appearances for both clubs, the duo have recorded 67 joint-goal participations. This is the highest joint-goal contribution Neymar Jr shares with any teammate.