Neymar lost possession more than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues at the weekend, while Lionel Messi set the LaLiga marker.
Opta data shows Messi surrendered possession 27 times as Barcelona won 1-0 at Real Valladolid on Saturday.
The poor state of the promoted side’s pitch may help to explain why Messi was particularly wasteful, however.
Messi losing the ball 27 times was more than any other player in the second weekend of the new LaLiga season.
The Brazil superstar lost the ball 34 times in PSG’s 3-1 win, while he also scored the final goal for Thomas Tuchel’s team.
Neymar and Messi were once team mates when he joined the Catalan giants from Santos in Brazil as a promising 21-year-old, whose potential was clear for everyone to see.
Despite battling at times during his first season at the Camp Nou, the Selecao man formed part of the most deadly attack in world football alongside Messi, and former Liverpool striker Luis Suarez.
The Blaugrana made things look easy out on the field for the most part, but Neymar has now opened up about his early struggles at the club.
The 26-year-old, who joined Paris Saint-Germain in August last year, recently shared a moment he had with Messi, whose words of encouragement during a half-time break still stick with him today.
“I remember a game with Barcelona. I was nearly crying because things weren’t coming off for me,” he said, according to Sport.
“It was half-time and Messi came up to me and told me that I only had to be the same player I had always been, to be myself.
“‘You have to be yourself,’ he told me. ‘You can’t be intimidated to be playing alongside me or (Andres) Iniesta,’ he insisted.
“To see the humility of a guy that has won it all, that is the best in the world, asking you to be yourself and show your best, without any kind of vanity, was something I loved.
“I tell that story all the time to my family, to my friends. He helped me a lot professionally, of course, but also personally.
“To play with stars like Messi, Iniesta and Xavi makes you a little shy. But after speaking with Messi I came out of myself, showed what I had, relaxed and played with confidence.
“Since that day, I have had a huge friendship with Messi.”