Lisbon (AFP)
A genius on the ball against a finisher smelling the goal like no one: the duel PSG-Bayern Munich in the final of the Champions League on Sunday (9 p.m.), will oppose Neymar and Robert Lewandowski, candidates for the symbolic title of best player on the planet football in 2020.
- Neymar, the hour of consecration -
He only needs one goal to sign in Lisbon a perfect "Final 8".
Elusive dribbles, small bridges, laser passes, strikes in any position ... At 28, Neymar is on the way to achieving the masterpiece of his career, despite his many missed opportunities against Bergamo (2- 1) and Leipzig (3-0).
A revenge for the Brazilian N.10, victim of serious injuries to the right foot in the last two seasons, which prevented him from justifying his status as the most expensive player in history (222 M EUR) during major meetings Europeans of the PSG.
"With his quality, his confidence and his talent, he will find precision again, I'm sure. I can't do anything, joked his trainer Thomas Tuchel, after qualifying for the final. Can you tell Neymar to score one goal? I must have scored two in my career (laughs)! "
"He's an exceptional player, he's very, very strong. He really has the mentality and the hunger to win, to show that he's capable of being the best player in the world and that he's capable of pushing this team. with Kylian (Mbappé), he added. If he scores in the final, I'll be absolutely happy. "
If the Ballon d'Or, the most prestigious of individual prizes, will not be awarded in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, his teammate Kylian Mbappé, who also aims to win it one day, is convinced that he will be recognized as the best player of the season if they win on Sunday.
"I think naturally, he is destined to win this type of trophies. I hope he will win some, that will mean that we will win the Champions League," he said.
- Lewandowski, king of the scorers -
His Polish rival Robert Lewandowski (32) has also dreamed of being named the best player in the world for a long time. But so far it has come up against its own limits.
Since his historic quadrupling in the Champions League semi-finals against Real Madrid in 2013 with Dortmund, he had never again - until this year - been decisive in knockout matches.
To date, out of 68 goals scored in the premier competition (fourth all-time scorer behind Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Raul), he has only scored 12 from the quarter-finals. Five-time Ballon d'Or Ronaldo has scored 40 times at this stage of the competition.
Suddenly, his five honorary titles of top scorer in the Bundesliga and two top scorer in the group stage in C1 hardly weighed in the balance. What the Pole did not always understand: in 2016, he finished 16th in a Ballon d'Or dominated by Ronaldo, and expressed his frustration on Twitter with a line of "laughter to tears" emojis, before to treat the France Football competition as a "cabaret"!
Its president, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, has been claiming for years that he is "the best center-forward in the world". "He is perhaps playing the best season of his career," Bayern boss told Lisbon, "he would have deserved the Ballon d'Or" if the trophy had been maintained.
Because this year, it is he who shattered Chelsea in the eighth, being associated with the seven goals of Bayern (3-0, 4-1), with three personal achievements and four assists.
Against Barcelona and Lyon, he improved his statistics without being the trigger for the fireworks, with the 6th goal against Barça (8-2) and the 3rd against Lyon (3-0).
With now 15 goals this season in C1, he is only two units behind Cristiano Ronaldo's record. But with a lack of notoriety on Neymar, this complete athlete will undoubtedly have to succeed at least this double against Paris. To raise the "Big Ears Cup" and finally convince that he has become the undisputed N.1.
© 2020 AFP