A new challenge awaits Neymar and his Paris Saint-Germain side as they are set to face RB Leipzig in the UEFA Champions League semifinals on Tuesday. PSG’s lone meeting against Leipzig came in a friendly contest back in 2014. However, Les Parisiens do have an extensive history of facing German sides in the Champions League.
The same applies to Neymar. In his Champions League career, Neymar has played against four different German sides over eight games. Unlike his record against Italian teams, Neymar’s resume against the best from the Bundesliga is quite impressive. Here is a look back at his European duels against teams from Germany.
Bayern Munich — 2014-2015 Champions League semifinals, home and away
The Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez trio reached its peak over their 2014-2015 Champions League-winning run. Their most memorable performance from that tournament run came against Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich. Messi scored two memorable goals, while Neymar added a trio of scores to put Barca through to the Champions League final.
Neymar’s home performance was quite impressive for a player in just his second season playing in the competition. Neymar ran rampant out on the flanks and topped off his performance with a goal to seal the 3-0 win.
He went on to score a double at the Allianz Arena, which included an exceptional score with all three world-class talents contributing in the sequence.
Bayer Leverkusen — 2015-2016 Champions League Group Stage, home
Neymar faced Bayer Leverkusen in 2015 during the Champions League group stage round. The Brazilian did not score or notch an assist but was the one leading the attacks into the final third. He recorded two goal-scoring chances created, seven dribbles completed and even chipped in with two tackles won.
Leverkusen’s Kevin Kampl and Guilo Donati had an extremely difficult time containing his on-ball movements from the flanks.
Borussia Monchengladbach — 2016-2017 Champions League Group Stage, away
Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach surprisingly put up a good fight against Barcelona during the first of two Champions League group stage bouts in 2016. Over the away contest, Monchengladbach led for most of the contest. The team contained the duo Neymar and Luis Suarez well until the former recorded a game-tying assist in the second half.
Neymar had a difficult time maintaining possession over the game, as he was dispossessed seven times and completed just two of his eight dribble attempts. Still, the assist made up for the underwhelming performance.
Bayern Munich — 2017-2018 Champions League Group Stage, home and away
Neymar once again squared off with Bundesliga powerhouse Bayern Munich. This time around, he was playing alongside Kylian Mbappe and Edinson Cavani. Les Parisiens won the home duel by a 3-1 score thanks to a brilliant showing by the Brazilian superstar; he recorded a goal and an assist in the contest. No Bayern talent on the pitch had any answer for his quick on-ball movements into open space.
Bayern took care of business in the away contest of the group stage with a 3-1 win. Neymar was not relatively quiet in the contest, as he recorded four goal-scoring chances created. Instead, Bayern won the fixture by responding with a formation change to help facilitate a more lively attack.
Borussia Dortmund — 2019-2020 Champions League Round of 16, home and away
Neymar’s most recent encounter against a German side occurred earlier this year against Borussia Dortmund. As most remember, PSG came back from a 2-1 first leg aggregate deficit to advance to the quarterfinals of the tournament. Neymar was up to his usual world-class self with two goals over the tie.
Overall, Neymar has logged six goals and two assists in eight games against Bundesliga teams. It is most impressive that five of those goal contributions have come against Bayern Munich in key Champions League fixtures.
While Neymar has never faced RB Leipzig in his career thus far, look for him to post another astounding performance against a top Bundesliga team.
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