He had the two first good opportunities for Barça to create or score (watch the highlights in this thread). First, a nice counter, but he did what he often does when he cuts across- holds the ball too long, and doesn't see the opportunities soon enough. That one he fired towards the back post, but his teammates had held their runs. Next, he recovered a ball at the top of the box with no defender in front of him, and skied his shot.
So no, not "flawless." That said, one of my favorite games by him, much more fluid and tied into teamplay than he usually is. More conservative, but still plenty of take-ons, but at the right times, not when he had easy options to involve his teammates (the aspect of his game that has annoyed me to no end). A great example is his wonderful lead-up to Iniesta's goal. The back flick assist was gorgeous, but his previous pass in the build-up is what made that glorious goal possible. "Solo" Neymar would have received the pass from Alves and turned to run at the defenders- he had the space to do so, but it would have been a 3v5. Instead, he dumps the ball to open Rakitic and makes a diagonal run to overload the left/center and open space behind him. Rakitic in turn laterals the ball across to Iniesta, and Iniesta takes advantage of the space on the right Neymar has created with a diagonal run in the opposite direction. Without Neymar's initial layoff pass, none of that beautiful teamplay would have been possible. I want to see a lot more of **this** Neymar (and hopefully a lot less of "I'm going to try to dribble three players at the center line while my open teammates stand by waiting for my pass in vain" Neymar). Good game.
