Neymar revealed that during his first season at Barcelona he cried at half-time in an away match against Athletic Bilbao and the Brazilian had problems with feeling confident on the pitch.
Having joined Barcelona in the summer of 2013 for the amount of £71.5 million, Neymar a high-profile move saw him choose Blaugrana Real Madrid. Despite his immense talent and the fact that he had become the face of Brazilian football, Neymar was only 21 years old and heading into the unknown in Spain.
In early December this year, in his fifteenth La Liga match of the season, Neymar scored four goals and provided eight assists to secure the left wing spot for Tata Martino’s team. However, that didn’t stop him from feeling bad about himself when interacting with his teammates Lionel Messi and Dani Alves step in to help him.
Neymar cried in the locker room during half-time of the Barcelona match
“I spent the first six months in Barcelona with butterflies in my stomach” Neymar told Romario in the latter’s new podcast. “I thought… fuck, I can’t dribble anyone, I can’t pass anyone, I’m doing everything wrong.
“There was a day when I was very nervous. It was half-time against Athletic Bilbao and I went into the locker room angry with myself. I played so bad. I went to the toilet, crying, thinking, “What am I doing?
“Then there was a knock on the door and it was Messi. He asked me: “Why are you crying?” and I said, “No, I’m fine, I’m fine.” Then Dani Alves came in and Messi said: “Calm down, we are here to help you. We want you to play your best football, just like you played at Santos, without any pressure. If you need anything, you can count on me.”
“I became more confident after that. I’m more excited about the game and things are starting to go well.”
However, things didn’t go well for Neymar right away. He suffered ankle and foot injuries later in the season, scored only five more league goals and provided two assists, and Barcelona also failed to win a trophy that season.
The 2014/15 season was his real heyday, 39 goals in 51 games helped Barcelona regain strength and win League, Champions League and the Copa del Rey treble, forming a formidable attack alongside Messi and Luis Suarez.
