After Tom Rogic’s opener against Ross County Neymar’s goal against Villarreal was probably the most admired strike of the weekend.
The Brazilian striker scored the second goal in Barcelona’s 3-0 win over Villarreal that left fans worldwide gasping and thinking ‘How did he do that’.
In some respects it looks like a run of the mill strike but on closer inspection the moment that he flicked the ball over his head while appearing to turn away from goal before striking the ball is likely to go down as a classic.
Doom and gloom was forecast for Barca when Lionel Messi was ruled out for six weeks due to injury but in his absence Neymar and Luis Suarez have scored all of their last seventeen goals with their next fixture at the Bernabeu against second placed Real Madrid.
“We are talking about a unique player, special, Barca boss Luis Enrique said afterwards. “We have to look at his work. That the team is growing and improving in key aspects of the game is obvious,” he told the official Barcelona website.
Villarreal coach Marcelino Garcia Toral added: “Right now Neymar is the most dominating striker in the league.”
Barca’s Sergio Busquets said: “This year we have conceded goals early on in games, we were not doing things very well and we had bad luck. We are better now and it shows. If we want to compete it’s important to keep a clean sheet.
“The Neymar goal was a work of art that only superstars like him can score.
“We coming into the Madrid match at a good time. We are happy to be getting players back, although there are some who will not be ready for El Clásico. It will be a game that either team can win.”