Man this is getting suspenseful , only a matter of days before we will know which club will win the CL.
I looked at all of his big tournaments in his career.
Results are AMAZING.
1. Copa America 2011: played, Brasil lost in 1/4 to Paraguay
2. Copa America 2015:
= banned for 4 matches after a red card against Colombia in a group stage
= didn't play in a 1/4, he let his teammates down. Brasil lost in 1/4 to Paraguay again
3. Copa America 2016:
= decided that he won't play. He chosed to play Olympic games against kids instead.
= a lot of Brasilians were mad at him for not playing
4. Copa America 2019:
= didn't play due to an injury.
= Brasil won comfortably without him
5. World Cup 2014
= injured in 1/4s against Colombia
= didn't play in 1/2 against Germany (7:1)
6. World Cup 2018
= played half ready, since he was injured AGAIN
= Brasil lost to Belgium in 1/4s (2:1)
7. Barcelona, Champions league 2014: lost to Atletico in 1/4, 1:1 and 0:1
8. Barcelona, Champions league 2015: winners
9. Barcelona, Champions league 2016: lost to Atletico in 1/4, 2:1 and 0:2
10. Barcelona, Champions league 2017: lost to Juventus in 1/4, 0:3 and 0:0
11. Psg, Champions league 2018: lost to Real in 1/8 (5:2). Again missed a 2nd leg due to an injury.
12. Psg, Champions league 2019: lost to Man Utd in 1/8 (3:3). Again missed BOTH matches due to an injury.
So, basically, in his career, he had a chance to play on 12 major knockout tournaments.
He played on 9 occasions.
But out of 9 occasions, he got injured against Colombia at WC 2014, and against Real in 2017.
Also, he got a 4 match ban at Copa America 2015.
So, basically, out of 12 big tournaments where he could have played, he was ACTUALLY on a field in playing in KEY matches:
= only 6 times:
1. Copa 2011: 1/4
2. World Cup 2018: 1/4
3. Barca, CL 2014: 1/4
4. Barca, CL 2015: winners
5. Barca, CL 2016: 1/4
6. Barca: CL 2017: 1/4
So, basically:
1. he missed 50% of big tournaments in his career:
= 4 due to injuries (Copa 2019, WC 2014, Psg 2018, Psg 2019)
= 1 due to a 4 match ban (Copa America 2015)
= 1 due to not wanting to play (Copa 2016)
2. on other 6 occasions where he actually played, he has 1 title (Barca CL 2015) and on ALL 5 other occasions, his team got knocked out in 1/4s.
So, people are saying as if we will win a CL with him.
Yet, in his 10 years career, he managed to get passed 1/4s only once when he was fit
Not that he doesn't guarantee CLs.
What he guarantees are:
1. injuries
2. his team getting KO'd in 1/4
3. and off field mess
We should call him:
Mister Quarter-finals Jr.
** Maybe the fact that Barca won only 2 La Ligas in 4 years while he was here, is not a coincidence anymore?
And we won 2 titles in a row when he left...
Even worse, we have actually reached a semis of a CL this season, without him.
A thing which usually happens: ONCE in Neymar's career.