According to coach Christophe Galtier, Neymar has roared back to form for Paris Saint-Germain after admitting he fell short of his lofty standards last season.
With 10 goals and seven assists in eight starts and one substitute appearance, the Brazil star has been PSG’s standout striker.
Having scored a modest 13 goals and provided eight assists in 28 games during the 2021–22 season, he has already come close to repeating his results from the previous season.
Neymar has reverted to his former self from his heyday at Barcelona, and PSG is reaping the rewards.
Galtier said:
“It would be disrespectful to think it is just for my technical staff and me.
“Neymar has an awareness of the fact that his performances were not as well last season.
“He has high targets. He came back fit at the start of pre-season.
“And he worked very hard before that.
“My staff and I decided to play him in the best position to be an artist.
“When Neymar is in a good state mentally and physically, that is what he does.
“And that is how he performs well.
“The key thing to understand is that, as the coach.
“He is a player who works extremely hard for the team going forward and in terms of winning the ball back.”
On Wednesday, Maccabi Haifa will be the opponent for Galtier’s team’s second Champions League group match.
He made a winning start last week against Juventus.
The teams have only met twice before in European competitions.
Both of those games came in the Cup Winners’ Cup first round in 1998-99.
Few anticipate the Israeli team, who prevailed 4-3 on aggregate, to defeat a star-studded opponent in this replay.
Maccabi Haifa has dropped all seven of their recent Champions League matches, 10-0 overall.
Dinamo Zagreb was the only side in Champions League history to lose eight straight games without scoring, accomplishing this feat between November 2015 and December 2016.
For PSG, Kylian Mbappe scored or assisted in his last nine Champions League games (8 goals, four assists).
His greatest scoring run in the competition is five games in which he has scored.
PSG are back in Israel barely six weeks after playing the Trophee des Champions match in Tel Aviv.
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