Hail Neymar, the new king of Barca
Brazilian takes Messi's Barca crown after historic comeback
In his post-match interview, a beaming Neymar wore a bandana, diamond earrings and looked like a pirate.
He had certainly stolen the Champions League booty for Barcelona, but the characterisation was slightly off.
The bandana should've been a crown. The Brazilian isn't Captain Jack Sparrow, but the new king of the Catalans.
He rules over the Nou Camp now. Lionel Messi's dominance is just about done.
When the dust has finally settled on the greatest comeback in Champions League history, calmer heads will acknowledge that one man made the difference.
Barcelona were dogged enough to defeat an utterly wretched Paris Saint-Germain 6-1 to go through on aggregate (6-5) yesterday morning (Singapore time), but they were not invincible.
Only Neymar was.
CHANGING OF THE GUARD
If it's true that real power cannot be given, it must be taken, then Neymar did just that in one symbolic moment.
Messi took Barcelona's first penalty to give Barcelona a 3-0 lead, but when a second spot-kick was awarded in the 91st minute, Neymar stepped up.
The Catalans have rotated penalty takers in the past, but this felt like a changing of the guard.
It was the kind of penalty that chills the blood, an opportunity to establish a 5-1 lead with five minutes left to play, a chance to dream once more.
Previously, this kind of pressure belonged to Messi. He owned such moments, but the most famous of nights in the Nou Camp belonged to Neymar.
Much will be made of PSG's unforgivable collapse and they were certainly the architects of their own downfall. But they were working in tandem with Neymar.
Remember, PSG still held a three-goal advantage until the 88th minute. The job was done, their place in the quarter-finals already booked.
Teams do not overcome three-goal deficits after the 88th minute, unless they are scribbled in the panels of comic books. Such farces exist only in fiction.
So Neymar slipped into a comic book, blurring the lines between fiction and reality like characters in that classic A-ha video for Take On Me.
He took on PSG, the history books and logic itself and won. He scored two of the three goals needed and made the third.
His first, a devilish free-kick, was the kind of goal that Messi used to score. But the Argentinian had no intention of lining up for this one.
The second was the kind of penalty that Messi had actually scored in the 50th minute, but he was never going to take this one.
And the assist for the final, decisive goal, the sudden shift in direction, the impudent shuffle of the feet and the perfect cross, looked like Messi at his finest.
But the name on the back of the jersey read "Neymar".
It was almost an incongruous image. A younger Neymar would not have displayed such level-headed foresight.
With the clock showing 95 minutes and the game being pulled from Barcelona like a vanishing tide, a young Neymar would've tempted a dribble or smashed in a first-time cross.
But the wiser, 25-year-old incarnation paused and switched feet, confusing a PSG defence already struck dumb with terror.
In that moment, the Parisian back four lost half a yard. In that moment, a royal succession took place. Neymar's exquisite pass dropped from the heavens and onto Sergi Roberto's boot.
HISTORY MADE
Champions League history had been made in Barcelona, but it was born in Brazil.
Apart from Messi's penalty and Luis Suarez's early goal, the front two were marginally off-colour. They huffed and puffed, but it was left to Neymar to blow the house of Paris down.
He called the game his best-ever showing for Barcelona.
Few would disagree.
In the commentary box, Steven Gerrard went further, claiming he'd witnessed the best individual performance of all time in the Champions League.
It's a more contentious point, but Gerrard has first-hand experience of single-handedly snatching victory from the jaws of defeat in Europe.
What isn't in dispute is the exchange of power in the Barcelona dressing room.
As the sun begins to set on Messi's reign, the glorious son of samba shines on.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
