Neymar Jr

Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior signed for Barça on 3 June 2013 after an agreement was reached between the Club and FC Santos. The then 21-year-old was Barça’s first signing of the 2013/14 season.
Born on 5 February 1992 at Mogi das Cruzes, in Brazil, Neymar began his footballing career at Santos in 2003 when he was only 11 years old and he quickly began to stand out in the club’s lower teams before making his debut with the first team in 2009 – soon becoming a fixture in the side and winning the Young Player of the Year in the Campeonato Paulista.
In 2009, Neymar was named the Player of the Tournament and was also the leading scorer in the Brazilian Cup with 11 goals. He was now a key figure in the team as Santos went on to win the Copa Libertadores by beating Uruguayan club Peñarol 2-1 in the final.
As South American champions, Santos played in the 2011 Club World Cup against Barça – who beat them 4-0, though Neymar was named third best player in the Tournament, behind Messi and Iniesta.
In his first season, Neymar played 41 matches and scored 15 goals, nine in La Liga, one in the Cup, four in the Champions League and one in the Spanish Super Cup, the latter his first ever for Barça, the equaliser in a game with Atlético Madrid. On September 18 he made his UCL debut against Ajax, and in the same competition he got his first FCB hat-trick against Celtic. He scored his first Liga goal against Real Sociedad but also missed a month of action that season with a foot injury.

2014/2015 was his breakthrough season in Europe. He was Barcelona’s second top scorer behind Messi, with 43 goals in 50 official outings. Neymar was the top scorer in the cup with 11 goals and joint top scorer in the Champions League with 10, the same as Messi and Real Madrid’s Ronaldo. Seven of those goals came in the last five games of the Champions League winning campaign.

Neymar first represented Brazil at the 2009 Under 17 Championships and following the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, he made his debut for the full international team in a friendly against USA, when  - still only 18 – he scored a goal. He was named in the Brazilian squad for the 2012 Olympic Games in London and helped take the team to the final, where they were beaten 2-1 by Mexico.

In the summer of 2013, just before signing for FC Barcelona, Neymar won the Confederations Cup with Brazil, scoring a goal in the final against Spain and being named MVP of the Tournament. Neymar Jr. made his official debut for the Club on 18 August 2013 in La Liga against Levante. The match ended with a Barça victory (7-0).

Neymar began playing football as a boy in São Vicente, under the guidance of his father, a former professional footballer who remained a close adviser and mentor throughout his son’s career. Having played street and indoor five-a-side football, Neymar joined Portuguesa Santista’s youth team in São Vicente, and in 2003 he and his family moved to Santos. There Neymar, who was already an impressive player, joined the youth academy of Santos FC (the same club for which Brazilian football legend Pelé starred over the majority of his domestic career). At age 14 he had a successful trial with Spain’s Real Madrid, and Santos had to increase its spending to retain him.

Neymar—a slender-framed 5-foot 9-inch (1.75-metre) forward—was supremely confident on the field, with excellent body control, quick reflexes, and explosive speed. He made his first team debut with Santos in 2009. While playing with Santos he averaged a goal every other match and helped the team win the Libertadores Cup (the most-prestigious South American club competition) in 2011. Neymar’s many individual honours with Santos included the South American Footballer of the Year title in 2011 and 2012. In June 2013 Neymar signed a five-year contract with FC Barcelona after a trade with Santos in exchange for €57 million (about $76 million), one of the most-expensive soccer transfers in history. Two years later he helped Barcelona win the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League and the UEFA Super Cup.

Internationally, Neymar was considered for the Brazilian side that participated in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, but he was ultimately not included on the squad. Instead, he made his debut for the national team in August 2010, in a friendly match against the U.S., where he scored his first international goal in Brazil’s 2–0 win. He scored four goals for Brazil at the 2013 Confederations Cup, including one in the team’s 3–0 victory over Spain in the final, and won the Golden Ball as the tournament’s most valuable player as well as the Bronze Boot as its third highest scorer. Neymar starred for Brazil when his home country hosted the 2014 World Cup, scoring four goals in five games before he was knocked out of the competition with a fractured vertebra in the quarterfinals. Without the team’s most important player, Brazil lost by a shocking 7–1 margin to eventual-champion Germany in the semifinals. Despite his early exit from the tournament, Neymar won the Bronze Boot. At the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games, he led the Brazilian men’s side to its first Olympic gold medal, scoring the winning penalty in extra time of the final match against Germany.

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Off field, Neymar experienced legal troubles. In 2012 a Brazilian court ordered him and his father to pay substantial back taxes from 2007 to 2008. An appeal was denied in 2016, and that year a Brazilian court additionally found Neymar guilty of having falsified documents in order to avoid paying taxes on income received in 2011–13. The player and his father were also called into Spanish court after an investment fund that had sponsored him alleged that it had been defrauded during his 2013 transfer to Barcelona.

Lionel Messi

Player Profile

Lionel Messi is the heir apparent to the throne left vacant by Diego Armando Maradona. The waters are divided between those who consider him to be far from being the best No. 10, and those who believe that Messi will be even better than Maradona.

Born in Rosario, he cut his teeth in the youth ranks of Newell's Old Boys, until a hormonal problem that affected his growth changed the plans of his family and, of course, his personal future. Facing expensive treatment for their son, Messi's parents moved to Spain as Newell's were not able to afford the medical costs related to his condition, and even the wealthiest Argentine teams, such as River Plate, refused to foot the bill.

After his first trial with Barcelona, the Catalan coaches had no doubts. They decided to sign Messi and pay for his medical treatment. His growth was noticeable within Barca, and in little time he came to be considered one of the great talents at the club. He made his debut in the first division in October 2004, against Espanyol, and Barcelona have since adopted him as one of their greatest idols.

His first championship would come in the Liga season of 2004-05. Since then, and playing a more prominent role every season, he has won every major club trophy at Camp Nou -- including a stunning haul of six in 2008-09 -- and claimed the World Player of the Year [later the FIFA Ballon d'Or] award four times in four years.

Messi has proven his credentials on the biggest stage with goals in two of the three Champions League finals he has won with Barcelona, with his achievements leaving many in little doubt that he is the best player of his generation; possibly of all time.

That idea was given further weight in March 2012 when, at the age of 24, he became the all-time top scorer at Barcelona -- beating the 232 goals of Cesar Rodriguez.

The forward's hat-trick in Barcelona's 4-3 win over Real Madrid in March 2014 also saw him become the all-time top scorer in El Clasico clashes.

Messi endured criticism over his performances during the 2013-14 campaign despite scoring 28 goals in 31 Liga appearances as Barcelona lost the title to Atletico Madrid in a dramatic final day clash, but the forward committed his long-term future to the club with a new deal in May 2014 and came back with a bang to claim the Treble of La Liga, Champions League and Copa del Rey after scoring 43 goals in 38 games.

As the top scorer for Barcelona, and still under the age of 30, Messi is simply one of the best there has ever been.

TROPHIES

National

World Cup Runner-up 1x 2014 Brazil

Copa America Runner-up 3x 2016 USA, 2015 Chile, 2007 Venezuela

Club Domestic

Primera División Winner 8x 2015/2016, 2014/2015, 2012/2013, 2010/2011, 2009/2010, 2008/2009, 2005/2006, 2004/2005

Runner-up 4x 2016/2017, 2013/2014, 2011/2012, 2006/2007

Copa del Rey Winner 5x 2016/2017, 2015/2016, 2014/2015, 2011/2012, 2008/2009

Runner-up 2x 2013/2014, 2010/2011

Super Cup Winner 7x 2016/2017, 2013/2014, 2011/2012, 2010/2011, 2009/2010, 2006/2007, 2005/2006

Runner-up 2x 2015/2016, 2012/2013

Copa Catalunya Winner 1x 2013/2014

Trofeo Joan Gamper Winner 1x 2016

Supercopa de Catalunya Runner-up 1x 2016

Club International

UEFA Champions League Winner 4x 2014/2015, 2010/2011, 2008/2009, 2005/2006

UEFA Super Cup Winner 3x 2015/2016, 2011/2012, 2009/2010

Runner-up 1x 2006/2007

Audi Cup Winner 1x 2011

FIFA Club World Cup Winner 3x 2015 Japan, 2011 Japan, 2009 UAE

Runner-up 1x 2006 Japan

Strengths: His ball skills are second to none, his runs from midfield are usually lethal and he is almost impossible to tackle when he gets his head down. His balance when running at speed is incredible.

Weaknesses: Too often he searches for a way to finish moves by himself without looking for teammates in a better position to shoot at goal.

Career high: Winning the 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 awards for the best player in the world.

Career low: He was unable to perform to his best in the 2006 World Cup in Germany, where Argentina were eliminated in the quarterfinals with Messi looking on from the bench.

Style: Quick, incisive, balanced, a stylish runner with the ball.

Quotes: "Messi is my Maradona," said Maradona himself, as the head coach of the Argentine national team in 2010.

Trivia: His debut with the national team (against Hungary) was a disaster: he entered the game in the 18th minute of the second half, and was sent off just 47 seconds later.