Neymar stands tall on night of heroes

“AS long as there’s a 1 percent chance, we’ll have 99 percent faith,” Neymar wrote in the aftermath of Barcelona’s 4-0 destruction in Paris.

But by the time he stood over the ball the odds didn’t even look that good. They didn’t to everyone else, anyway. 1 percent? If only. Their first comeback had failed, crushed by Edinson Cavani; the second had barely started and was surely beyond them now: Paris Saint-Germain’s away goal had left them needing three goals in 30 minutes and 27 of them had passed.

Even the goal, Barcelona’s fourth, should have been an afterthought. Neymar’s freekick felt almost as cruel as it was perfect, curling into the top corner by the near post, a moment that would ultimately prove meaningless, a brief and empty hope inevitably taken away.

The crazy thing was that somehow there was substance.

When his right foot connected, the clock said 87:22 and everyone “knew” it was still impossible. But, as Neymar wrote afterwards: “Nothing is impossible for those who believe.”

It was easy to say then, of course, but he had said as much after Paris and now he had made it so. PSG crumbled. Terrified, they completed only four passes from the 85th minute on - and three of those were kick-offs. Barcelona completed an epic comeback that Luis Enrique said he could not explain in words.

“No one will ever forget this. Football is for crazy people, unique,” he said.

There were explanations, although none were entirely adequate - not even when they were put together.

Images of the impossible: Marc-André ter Stegen, who produced a decisive slide tackle 20 yards inside the PSG half to go with the saves.

The back three, exposed but immense.

PSG’s extraordinary loss of nerve. Sergi Roberto, who Luis Enrique joked couldn’t score in a goal the size of a rainbow.

And, yes, the referee, Deniz Aytekin: Javier Mascherano later admitted fouling Ángel Di María, and there had been a handball, too, while Luis Suárez dived to win the penalty for Barcelona’s fifth.

Then, the single most compelling explanation of all, there was the man wearing No 11.

In seven minutes 17 seconds, Barcelona scored three times. Neymar was at the heart of them all. “This was the best game I’ve played,” he said. All night he had led, taking responsibility and taking hits, rolling with them.

Much has been made of his lack of goals this season but that hides a huge contribution.

Just as his tumbles and his skill - superfluous at times, the accusation goes - hide his competitiveness and bravery. - The Guardian.