Barca look to Neymar to revive La Liga fortunes

Friday, 13 December 2013 03:44 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: With Lionel Messi not due back from injury until next month, Barcelona will be looking to Neymar to add to Wednesday’s hat-trick against Celtic and help the champions get back to winning ways in La Liga.

Barca needed a convincing Champions League performance against the Scottish side after consecutive defeats to Ajax Amsterdam and Athletic Bilbao and the Brazil forward responded with his first goals in Europe’s elite club competition in a 6-1 romp at the Nou Camp. Bought from Santos in the close season for a fee of close to 60 million euros, Neymar had been threatening to explode into life without really delivering and the 21-year-old’s performance on Wednesday, when he also assisted a Pedro goal, suggested he may have turned a corner. Assuming the mantle of Argentine World Player of the Year Messi would be a heavy burden for anyone, let alone a man in his early 20s, but Neymar appears anything but phased by the responsibility.