Three days ago, Neymar gave yet another goalscoring masterclass when he scored a hat-trick against South Africa in Johannesburg. The Brazilian once again shone for his country... but he appeared to have left his scoring boots behind in South Africa for this weekend's La Liga fixture. The Barça man put in a lacklustre performance away to Valladolid and was not the attacking force he has been in other games.
In Valladolid, Neymar was one of Barça's main trump cards to beating Real Valladolid, but Tata Martino ended up replacing him 28 minutes into the second half with Tello. He contributed little to his team's game, although he had a great chance to level the game after the break. The ball came to him completely unmarked, but he shot high into the stands at the José Zorrilla.
The Barça coach had opted to start both Neymar and Messi, but his two stars did not link up well on the day. The Argentine led Barcelona's attack, but more was expected of Neymar, who put in a poor performance against a Real Valladolid side that took Tata Martino's men by surprise (1-0).
Read more: Neymar leaves his scoring boots in South Africa - MARCA.com (English version)
