Comment: The time will come for parties, Neymar, now is not it

Comment: The time will come for parties, Neymar, now is not it

At Camp Nou, you could hear a few whistles against Neymar. Hardly any. But you could hear them. They were the first the Brazilian player has received. Will they be the last? To pick him up, his friends Messi and Suarez gave him a penalty, when the normal thing would have been to let the Uruguayan, who is fighting for the Pichichi and the European Golden Shoe, take it. But no. They let Neymar have it. "You take it!" And he almost missed. It would have been dramatic. 

The situation with Neymar at Barcelona is complicated. Surrounded by thousands of rumours, he is beginning to be scrutinised with a magnifying glass - something which had not happened in the last two and a half years. His drop in form, which is obvious, has conincided with the first leaks (self-interest involved?) about his private life. And now they are making the first malicious connections. "He is not playing well because he spends the nights partying." And cules put their hands on their heads. "A new Ronaldinho?" No, please...

Neymar has been having a constant party since he arrived in Barcelona. It's nothing new. What's new is that his style of private life is now being used to criticise his professional life. But he seems able to let the criticism slip by. Surrounded by 'toiss' - those close to him - he continues with his own business. On Sunday, for example, he escaped to London after training for a dinner with his friends and, afterwards, to a nightclub. Is that bad? In principle, no. But as the proverb goes, Cesar's wife "ought not even be under suspicion". And Neymar's nights out, in these moments, are not suitable. 

FC Barcelona are playing for their lives and the title as they go into the final three games of the season. The players must have their fifth, sixth and seventh senses focused exclusively on football. The moment will come, when they win the double (which I hope they will) to party. Now is not the time.