Neymar Jr.: Trying his best not to be world-class

No one could have asked any more of Neymar Jr. in the Champions League quarter-final against Atalanta. Not his manager, nor his fellow players or the PSG fans - who even after three years aren’t really sure whether to adore or hate him.

Last week, some of Neymar's teammates spoke about his determination to help the club win the Champions League this year.

Usually such comments evoke scepticism as they are often said just because they are the right things to say. Alternatively, the comments could have been to play mind games with the opposition as well.

But any lingering doubts about the veracity of these comments from Neymar got expunged as soon as the game began.

Neymar produced one of his best performances without scoring

Neymar

Neymar was at his imperious best against Champions League debutants Atalanta. There were numerous occasions when he dribbled past Atalanta’s players as if they were a bunch of Sunday league footballers and not Champions League quarter-finalists.

The 16 dribbles he completed last night were the most by a player in a Champions League game since 2008.

16 - Neymar completed 16 dribbles against Atalanta tonight, the most by a player in a single Champions League match since Lionel Messi v Manchester United in April 2008. Twist. #ATAPSG pic.twitter.com/WpT1ONRZVV

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 12, 2020

At times, Neymar's defence-splitting passes took out more than half of the opposition's players with just one kick of the ball. The way he pressed and chased after seemingly lost causes would have made Jurgen Klopp nod in approval.

In the end, it was largely due to Neymar's efforts that PSG were able to overturn a 0-1 deficit with two late goals and book a spot in the semi-finals.

4 - Excluding games that went to extra-time, @PSG_English are the 4th team to be losing a #UCL game coming into the 90th minute and win;@ManUtd v Bayern Munich (1999 final)Bayern Munich v Chelsea (2005 QF)Dortmund v Malaga (2013 QF).Drama. pic.twitter.com/oyF2Uh1uFa

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 12, 2020

Though he did hand over his Man-of-the-Match award to Eric Choupo-Moting as an appreciative gesture for scoring the game winner, everyone knew that this accolade truly belonged to Neymar.

Has Neymar's performance raised more questions than answers?

Atalanta v Paris Saint-Germain - UEFA Champions League Quarter Final

The irony, however, is that Neymar's performance against Atalanta seemed to have raised more questions than answers.

Since his transfer to PSG in 2017, this was probably the first occasion when his world record transfer fee of £199m looked justified. In his three years at the club, Neymar has played only 52 games - a meagre season average of just over 17 appearances.

What’s even more frustrating is that in the games he has managed to play in, Neymar's levels of commitment and determination haven’t always been up to expected standards. Coming from someone earning a weekly salary of £600,000, it is far from acceptable for the PSG faithful.

After the game against Atalanta, PSG fans are left wondering why Neymar doesn't show similar levels of resolve in every game he plays for the Parisian club?

Neymar has largely chosen to expend his energies in raising one storm after another, which have hurt the club and have unsettled him as well. The last such instance was his rebellion to push for a move back to Barcelona, which made him lose out on any residual goodwill he had with the PSG fans.

Neymar is a player who has been touted by many to be the heir apparent to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, an odds-on Ballon d'Or winner.

However, performances like the one against Atalanta have proven to be an exception rather than the rule, in the process ironically suggesting that Neymar is still not the world-class player he has been touted to be.

Whether he chooses to stay at PSG in the long term or not remains to be seen. For now, though, football fans like us can be rest assured that we will get to see the brilliance of a resolute Neymar for at least one more match during the next week and a half.