The Forgotten Rivalry, Neymar and Bale under Review
The pundits and soccer analyst always dedicate their attention to discussing and analyzing two players that is Messi and Rinaldo. Soccer loving fans have forgotten the two players who were bought to compete for their clubs that is Neymar and Bale. In 2013 after a hot contest for Neymar between Real Madrid and Barcelona, Barcelona won the contest by signing Neymar to help Messi complement their team. With Barcelona signing Neymar ahead of Real Madrid, Real Madrid also went ahead to sign Gareth Bale to compete with Neymar and continue the Madrid and Barcelona rivalry.
Its three seasons down the line and SportsGoogly in this article have rated the two players Neymar and Messi who have helped his club. Again SportsGoogly will compare the players head to head to find out Neymar and Bale who have performed better since bought in 2013.
Neymar (Barcelona)
Neymar da Silva Santos Junior was born on 5 February 1992 in Mogi das Cruzes in Brazil. He prefers to be called Neymar and is a forward for Barcelona and Brazil. Neymar started his football career at Santos Fc academy in 2003 where he was inducted into the academy. When Neymar was 14 years he travels to Spain to train with the Real Madrid academy.
On 7 March 2009, Neymar made his debut appearance for Santos at age 17 and since then the sky have been the limit of talented Brazilian.
For Santos Neymar played 103 league games from 2009 to 2013, he scored 54 goals in the process.
Neymar won the Copa Libertadores (equivalent to Champions League) in 2011, Recopa Sudamerica (equivalent to UEFA Super Cup) in 2012, Copa do Brazil( equivalent to FA Cup) in 2010 and won the Campeonato Paulista (divisional league) for 3 times(2010, 2011, 2012). In 2013 Barcelona signed Neymar after a hot contest with Real Madrid who also had interest in the player.
Gareth Frank Bale (Real Madrid)
Gareth Frank Bale was born on 16 July 1989 in Cardiff, Wales. Bale is a winger for Real Madrid and Wales National team. Gareth Bale started his football career at school where he was noticed by Southampton at age 9 in school. Bale was a sportsman who was dedicated to all sports at school; he used to run 100 miters, play rugby, hockey and football. Because of Bale’s tremendous dribbling skills he was promoted above his age mates at school. Whilst in Wales, he used to train with Southampton satellite academy.
On 17 April 2006 Gareth Bale became the second youngest player to play for Southampton at age 16 and 275 days. Southampton was then playing in the English Football Championship where he wins BBC Wales young sports personality of the year in 2006. At Southampton Bale had a full season in the 2006/07 season by playing 38 league games as a left back and scoring 5 goals.
Gareth Bale moved to Tottenham Hotspur in the 2007/08 season for a transfer fee of £7 million. He played at the left back until the 2012/13 season where he was turned into an attacking player. Bale played 146 premier league games for Tottenham and scored 42 goals with a scoring ratio of 29%. On 1 September 2013, Real Madrid signed Gareth Bale for a record transfer fee of €100 million.
The Comparison:
In 2013/14 Season;
Neymar
- Neymar played 26 La Liga games and scored 9 goals with scoring rate of 36%
- Neymar played 3 Copa Del Ray games and scored 1 goal with scoring rate of 33%
- Neymar played 10 Champions League games and scored 4 goals with a scoring rate of 40%
Trophies: Spanish Super Cup 2013, FIFA Club world Cup.
In all, Neymar played 39 games and scored 14 goals which is 39% in percentage score.
Bale
- Bale played 27 La Liga games and scored 15 goals with a scoring rate of 56%
- Bale played 5 Copa Del Ray games and scored 1 goal with a scoring rate of 20%
- Bale played 12 Champions League games with 6 goals with a scoring rate of 50%
Trohies: FIFA Club World Cup 2014, UEFA Super Cup 2014, Champions League 2013/14, Copa Del Ray 2013/14.
In all Bale played 44 games and scored 22 goals with scoring percentage of 50%
In conclusion, Gareth Bale was better than Neymar in the 2013-14 season as the statistics have shown.
In 2014/15 season;
Neymar
- Neymar played 33 La Liga games and scored 22 goals with a scoring percentage of 67%
- Neymar played 6 Copa Del Ray games and scored 7 goals with a scoring percentage of 117%
- Neymar played 12 Champions League games and scored 10 goals with a scoring percentage of 83%
Trophies: La Liga 2014/15, Copa Del Ray 2014/15, UEFA Champions League 2014/15, FIFA Club World Cup 2015.
In all Neymar played 51 games and scored 39 goals with a scoring percentage of 77%
Bale
- Bale played 31 La Liga games and scored 13 goals with a scoring rate of 42%
- Bale played 2 Copa Del Ray games and did not score a goal.
- Bale played 10 Champions League games and scored 2 goals with a scoring percentage of 20%
Trophies: No Trophy Won.
In all Bale played 43 games and scored 15 goals with a scoring percentage of 35%
In conclusion, Neymar was far better than Gareth Bale in the 2014/15 season as the facts and statistics have shown.
In 2015/16 Season,
Neymar
- Neymar played 34 La Liga games and scored 24 goals with a scoring percentage of 71%
- Neymar played 5 Copa Del Ray games and scored 4 goals with a scoring percentage of 80%
- Neymar played 9 Champions League games and scored 3 goals with a scoring percentage of 33%
Trophies: La Liga 2015/16, Copa Del Ray 2015/16.
In all Neymar played 48 games and scored 31 goals with a scoring percentage of 65%
Bale
- Bale played 23 La Ligagames and scored 19 goals with a scoring percentage of 83%
- Bale did not play any Copa Del Ray
- Bale played 8 Champions League games without scoring a goal.
Trophies: UEFA Champions League 2015/16
In all Gareth Bale played 31 games and scored 19 goals with a scoring percentage of 61%
In conclusion, Neymar’s performance was a little better than that of Gareth Bale in the 2015/16 season as the statistics have proven.
Total Performance
Since 2013/14 season up to 2015/16 season
Neymar
- Neymar have played 93 La Liga games and scored 55 goals with scoring percentage of 59%
- Neymar have played 14 Copa Del Ray games and scored 12 goals with a scoring percentage of 86%
- Neymar have played 31 Champions League games and scored 17 goals with a scoring percentage of 55%
Bale
- Bale have played 81 La Liga games and scored 47 goals with a scoring percentage of 58%
- Bale have played 7 Copa Del Ray games and scored 1 goal with a scoring percentage of 14%
- Bale have played 30 Champions League games and scored 8 goals with a scoring percentage of 27%
La Liga Comparison: According to the facts and statistics Neymar have a scoring rate of 59% and Bale have a scoring rate of 58% meaning that on the pitch both players are very close in terms of performance but Neymar outwit Bale in terms of La Liga title winnings. Bale have never won the La Liga with Real Madrid but Neymar have won it Barcelona on 2 occasions. On La Liga, Neymar is ahead of Bale.
Copa Del Ray Comparison: From the facts illustrated Bale is nowhere close to Neymar according to the scoring rate. Neymar have a scoring rate of 86% and Bale have a scoring rate of 14% and in terms of the Copa Del Ray trophy, Neymar have won two and Bale have won one. From the trophy to the performance on the pitch, Neymar once again outwit Bale.
Champions League Comparison: The scoring rate of Bale is 27% while that of Neymar is 55% with 32 and 30 games respectively. In terms of the trophy, Bale have won two and Neymar have won one. With individualism Neymar once again outwit Bale. Neymar was very influential to the run up to their champion’s title than that of Bale in their two champions league titles. The bases of my argument is the on the field performance with 27:55 for both players. On Champions League Neymar outwit Bale.
This is the entire performance of these two players bought in 2013 to compete. Draw your own conclusions and analyze the facts to choose your player in this 3 years period. Keep your comments coming as Neymar or Bale who have performed well in the last 3 years for their respect clubs. Your comments are welcomed.
