The choices were multiple. Asked by Corriere della Sera about the best player he has faced in his long professional career (1,151 matches between 1995 and 2023), Gianluigi Buffon delivered a rather surprising answer. After mentioning Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo Nazario, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Andrés Iniesta, the 2006 world champion finally fell back on his former PSG teammate, Neymar.
“For the player and the person that he is, he should have won five Ballon d’Ors,” justified the current head of the delegation of the Italian selection, retired since his departure from Parma in 2023. At 32 years, Neymar was unable to do better than third place in the Ballon d’Or, in 2015 and 2017, and no longer seems destined to win it.
The two men had the opportunity to face each other three times when they played respectively for Juve and Barça with one victory for each side and one draw. The Brazilian, currently a player for Al-Hilal, stood out particularly during the 2015 Champions League final won by the Catalans over the Turin club, with a goal scored in added time (1-3).
A direct free kick from Neymar against him in 2013
In selection, Buffon and Neymar were also confronted twice. The first time in 2013, for a friendly match in Geneva (Switzerland) during which Neymar, then aged 21, delivered a decisive pass (2-2). Then a second time a few months later in the Confederations Cup, during which he sent a marvelous direct free kick into the cage of “Gigi”, to give victory to his team (4-2).
The two players subsequently found themselves at Paris Saint-Germain under the orders of Thomas Tuchel during the 2018-2019 financial year, during which they lifted Ligue 1 and the Champions Trophy together.