Neymar stepping up to make light of Messi
absence
With five goals in a week, the Brazilian has
helped Barcelona put their recent blip in form
behind them and the Catalans are now five
points clear of Real Madrid in La Liga
Dec 15, 2013 9:00:00 AM
COMMENT
By Ben Hayward | Spanish
Football Writer
No more Neymar in 2013.
Barcelona's Brazilian forward
will miss the Catalans' Liga
clash at Getafe next weekend
after he picked up his fifth booking of the season in
his side's 2-1 over Villarreal on Saturday. But before
that, the 21-year-old once again made the difference
in the continued absence of Lionel Messi.
As said with increased regularity of late, this was not
vintage Barca, but boss Gerardo Marino was pleased
to see his side come through another tricky test
without their star man. As Messi continues his
recovery from a troublesome hamstring problem in
Argentina, Neymar was there to round off a wonderful
week with two more crucial strikes.
"This is the victory which satisfies me most," Martino
said afterwards. "We miss Messi and our rivals are
happy when he is not playing. We don't only miss him
when we lose, we always miss him. And if he had
been here, we would have played better."