Real Madrid vs PSG: 5 reasons why Ronaldo will outshine Neymar

Real Madrid versus Paris Saint-Germain is undoubtedly the glamour tie of the Champions League last 16. It is a conflict that intrigues on both a collective and individual level.

Collectively, it pits the most trophied team in European football against a monied upstart intent on eventually wrestling that crown from their grasp. And individually it provides a clash between a habitual Ballon d’Or winner and a younger player with designs upon becoming just that.

There are reasons to believe that PSG and Neymar will be capable of upsetting the order and coming out on the top, but even though they are both perhaps not enjoying the best of seasons, Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo should certainly not be discounted.

Ronaldo, in particular, will still be confident of asserting his supremacy over his young challenger.

Here are 5 reasons why Ronaldo will outshine Neymar.

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#1 Real Madrid always turn it on in the Champions League

Real Madrid always reserve their best form for the Champions League

Real Madrid are not only the most successful team in the history of the Champions League / European Cup but one with an unmatchable record in recent years. They have won the competition in each of the last two seasons and in three of the last four. And they have made it through to at least the semi-final stage in each of the last seven.

They are a club who even when they are not performing particularly well domestically, always seem capable of raising their game on the Champions League stage.

While this tie has been billed as an individual battle between the occupant and pretender to the throne of the world’s best player, the truth is that the outcome of the tie will do much to colour perception as to which of the two players has outshone the other.

In that context, Madrid’s experience and consistently strong performances in the Champions League give Ronaldo a key advantage over Neymar.

#2 In the Champions League, Ronaldo always performs

Ronaldo has won the Champions League four times.

At Real Madrid, it is not only the collective that raises its level in Champions League action. Individually, Ronaldo always performs.

Even this season, when his league form has been questionable for much of the campaign, he still notched nine goals during the Champions League group stage, scoring in all six of Madrid’s matches.

In total, he has scored 115 goals in the competition over the course of his career to date. Last season, he scored 10 times during the knockout stages, including hat-tricks against both Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich.

Neymar did produce a few telling performances in the competition during his time at Barcelona, most notably in their incredible comeback victory against his current employers PSG in last year’s round of 16. But he hasn’t been as consistently decisive as Ronaldo always seems to be in Europe’s premier club competition.

#3 There are still doubts over PSG's real level

Are PSG strong enough as a team?

PSG currently hold a commanding 12-point advantage at the top of Ligue 1 but given the underpowered nature of many of their opponents, it still remains difficult to judge their true level.

The summer signings of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe have certainly added additional attacking firepower but there were few improvements elsewhere in the squad. PSG are not necessarily that much stronger than they were last season when they fell to Barcelona in the last 16.

The club’s two group-stage matches against Bayern Munich provided little concrete evidence one way or another. The manner in which PSG blew the Germans away in a 3-0 victory on home soil was neutralised by the relatively meek way in which they succumbed to a 3-1 defeat in the return fixture.

However good a player is on an individual level, he still needs to be part of the right collective context to truly stand out. On that basis, it remains difficult to say whether PSG are yet capable of providing Neymar with the necessary platform to outshine Ronaldo.

#4 For Ronaldo, shining means scoring; Neymar must do much more

Scoring goals is Ronaldo's game.

Over the course of his career, Ronaldo has gradually morphed from a quick and tricky winger into a hugely potent wide forward and lately, into a wide-cum-central forward whose primary tasks are much closer to those of a classic number 9 than those of a winger.

Nowadays, Ronaldo is not really expected to provide much more for his team than goals. As long as he continues to score, his place in the team is safe, and any triumphs that Madrid are able to pull off will invariably be credited to his goalscoring prowess.

For Neymar, the bar is higher. He must not only score goals but create them too. He is in the prime of his career and the expectation, fair or not, is that he should be capable of directing his side’s attack in the same manner that Lionel Messi has at Barcelona for so many years. He stepped out of Messi’s shadow to take on just that responsibility.

So to outshine Neymar, all Ronaldo has to do is score a couple of goals in a Madrid side who progress to the next round. To outshine Ronaldo, Neymar must help drag a team who have habitually under-performed in the Champions League to a famous victory. It is a much taller task.

#5 Ronaldo keeps his head better under pressure

Neymar too easily gets involved in needless scraps.

Ronaldo quite often cuts a frustrated figure out on the pitch, usually when a teammate has dared not pass to him inside the penalty area, but that rarely spills over into confrontations with opponents or has an effect on his game the next time he receives the ball.

Neymar, however, has a history of getting drawn into needless scuffles with opponents. He received 12 yellow cards and one red card across league and Champions League action with Barcelona last season, and he has already accumulated five yellow cards and one red with PSG in Ligue 1 this time around, despite the clear advantage his side enjoy over most opponents.

The Brazilian can also tend towards individualism when things aren’t going his or his team’s way.

The two matches against Madrid are undoubtedly the biggest Neymar has faced since moving to PSG. If things take a turn for the worse early on in the tie, it wouldn’t be surprising at all if his emotion gets the better of him and thus hinders his hopes of outperforming Ronaldo.