Luis Enrique hails 'ballet dancer' Neymar after Barcelona rout
Saturday 6 May 2017 22:05, UK
Neymar is "more like a ballet dancer than a football player", says Luis Enrique following Barcelona's 4-1 win over Villarreal on Saturday.
After a slow start Neymar opened the scoring for Barcelona on 21 minutes, breaking the offside trap to latch onto Lionel Messi's pass and finish well into the corner.
Two goals from Messi and another from Luis Suarez ensured Barcelona ran out comfortable winners at the Nou Camp despite Cedric Bakambu's equaliser, and while each of the infamous MSN shone in the victory, Enrique singled out Neymar's unique contribution.
"Neymar has a totally different interpretation of football from anyone, even to any Brazilian," Enrique said to reporters in his post-match press conference.
"Most dribbles he does not give me time to see them, it's a great pleasure to watch.
"It makes Neymar, who often looks more like ballet dancer than a football player, effective."
The victory took Barcelona three points clear at the top of La Liga ahead of Real Madrid's game against Granada later on Saturday, with Real still able to keep a three-point advantage over their rivals by winning their two games in hand.
Despite Barcelona's nervous start, Enrique was impressed with how his side coped with what was a must-win fixture for the Catalan club in order to stay in the title race.
"The team was very good with and without a ball," Enrique added.
"Scoring four goals against Villarreal indicates how well we have handled the pressure and we played a complete match against a great team."
