Neymar is everywhere in the final third – linking play, showboating and creating for his fellow stars.
Curiously though, you can set your calendar by when the world’s most expensive footballer will be noticeably absent for Paris Saint-Germain. This weekend was going so well for Ney, too, scoring against Lille and dominating in attack – until he rolled an ankle and was stretchered off in tears.
Poor bloke can't catch a break, can he? But the rumour mill loves to speculate about a conspiracy – and Neymar seems to always get injured or suspended around this time of year...
March 2015: An innocuous suspension
2015 was a vintage year for Barcelona. They lifted the treble and Neymar was building a reputation as the best footballer on Earth not named Lionel or Cristiano. He rounded off a superb season with the final goal in the Champions League final against Juventus and the fabled MSN dynamic was becoming one of the most feared frontlines in footballing history.
Cules perhaps didn’t realise at the time that the Brazilian was laying the groundwork for a very different kind of reputation, too. Neymar missed a 6-1 victory over Rayo Vallecano on March 8 because of a suspension picked up when he accumulated five bookings. It seemed innocuous enough at the time.
As he was on La Liga’s naughty step, Barca allowed the star to head home to Brazil – and see his sister, Rafaella Santos, on her birthday on March 11. And so, the rumours began…
March 2016: A second suspension
Neymar’s fifth yellow card of the 2015/16 season again meant that he missed a clash during the same week as the previous season. The forward missed the game against Eibar on March 6, and again, returned to South America to see Rafaella in time for her birthday.
Some fans grumbled, accusing him of deliberately picking up that key booking. This was the first time that concerns were audibly raised over whether Neymar was clearing his diary during March.
March 2017: Adductor injury
Lionel Messi dropped a bit of a stinker, but Neymar was on hand to help Barcelona to a famous 6-1 hammering to overcome future employers PSG in the Champions League. The Brazilian had managed to avoid his now-customary suspension in the league, but didn’t make the squad against Deportivo La Coruna, as he’d picked up an “adductor issue”.
While he may have thought his heroics in Europe would buy him some sympathy from fans though, he was wrong. Barca were beaten by Deportivo in his absence and Juventus got their own back in the Champions League, beating the Neymar-less side out of the Champions League.
In his time out, Neymar sought to recover from the injury at home in Brazil. Once again, he was accused of deliberately sitting out an important game in order to fly back to South America.
February 2018: The metatarsal flare-up
Following a £200 million move to France, Neymar was in electric form, setting Ligue 1 alight with many questioning whether this was the year that Paris Saint-Germain finally realised their megabuck-funded destiny. Yet it all came crashing down for them in Europe – again – as their talismanic No.10 suffered more bad luck.
In the first leg of the Champions League knockout tie against Real Madrid, Neymar was floored and taken off. The diagnosis turned out to be a broken metatarsal and sprained ankle, ruling him out for a few weeks. Without their record signing, PSG were disposed of with ease by Real, who went on to lift the title for a third season in a row.
It was that last-16 second-leg fixture again that became the curse. Les Parisiens looked meek without their superstar.
January 2019: Revenge of the metatarsal flare-up
“If you [showboat] like that, don’t complain if you take some knocks after,” In January Strasbourg midfielder Anthony Goncalves coldly declared after Neymar was forced off in a French Cup match. “If he wants to have fun, we’ll respond with the weapons we have. We’re not here for a laugh.”
After being drawn with Manchester United, who were firmly in transition under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, there was at least optimism from some that Neymar wouldn’t be missed too badly – especially as they won 3-1 at Old Trafford in the first leg. So confident, was Neymar, that he brazenly battled on at his birthday bash in a bright crimson blazer and matching crutches, despite how it would look would his side crash out of Europe again in his absence.
PSG lost 2-0 at home, with United progressing on away goals. The critics circled once more.
February 2020: Neymar’s birthday
It’s February 1 and PSG are midway through a routine demolition of wide-eyed Ligue 1 minnows, this time Montpellier. Neymar is given a yellow card and proceeds to go apoplectic over the incident. For the rest of the match, it looks as if the Brazilian has a thorn in his paw, flying into tackles and obviously sulking on the field.
Three days later, Neymar is absent. PSG confirm that it was a blow to the ribs that ruled the star out of the league clash against Nantes, the day before he turns 28 years old. Neymar’s birthday party – an all-star affair with an all-white dress code – was apparently 48 hours earlier, with boss Thomas Tuchel diplomatically stating it is not “the best way to prepare for a match,” after a selection of his squad are pictured at the do.
The internet was rife with suspicion over Neymar’s behaviour, following his yellow card against Montpellier. Was he trying to get sent off? Regardless, he had a sicknote anyway against Nantes.
February 2020: Another suspension - followed by another big party
The French champions were involved in a seven-goal thriller, seeing off west coasters Bordeaux 4-3, with a Marquinhos double sandwiched between strikes from Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappe.
The board went up for stoppage time following the 90, and as if by autocue, Brazilian playmaker Neymar clattered into midfield starlet Yacine Adli for his second yellow of the match. Referee Willy Delajod dismissed Neymar, the No.10 lifting his arms in protest as he sat on the grass following his challenge.
Neymar earned a suspension for PSG’s next match – which coincided with carnival season in his native Brazil. With PSG facing another tough tie in the Champions League last 16 though, having lost to Dortmund away in the first leg, more controversy followed.
On the Thursday following the European loss, Neymar was one of several PSG players pictured at a party celebrating the birthdays of Cavani, Angel Di Maria, and on-loan Mauro Icardi. The club had apparently asked for a more discreet party season this year, but Tuchel was forced to comment on the videos of the do, which went viral.
February 2021: An injury-riddled season
Neymar returned for the lockdown Champions League knockouts in 2020 and finished the campaign with a silver medal. The following season was to be one of the most difficult of his career.
The Brazilian struggled with adductor and ankle issues all campaign, finding himself on the treatment table over December before having his comeback interrupted in the New Year through suspension. A kick forced him off the pitch during the second half of a Coupe de France match with Caen – and happened to rule him out from mid-February to mid-March. Yet again. Surely even Neymar's fed up with this luck, now?
Luckily for PSG, however, Mbappe was on hand to batter Barcelona in the Champions League all on his own.
February 2022: Neymar's fit for Feb!
A pesky ankle niggle continued to plague poor Ney throughout the 2021/22 season, ruling him out during the winter – but for the first time since 2014, the Brazilian was fit and available for the second-leg of a Champions League last-16.
Hurrah! Real Madrid, however, were not in the mood to give him a warm welcome to that particular stage of the competition. PSG were turned over in a smash-and-grab after controlling much of the tie.
February 2023: The curse strikes again
PSG were abject against Bayern Munich in their last-16 first-leg – but only ended the halfway point of the tie a goal down. With Neymar and Mbappe on fire against Lille in Ligue 1, Les Parisiens were perhaps hoping to build a little momentum in the league to take to the Allianz Arena.
Momentum doth butter no parsnips this time of year at the Parc Des Princes, however. Neymar went down after a crunching tackle in which he twisted his ankle, leaving on a stretcher in tears. He was enjoying himself up until then, 'n' all.
Conspiracy or coincidence? Neymar's February curse continues…
