Neymar did not hit the ground running in his first two seasons at Barcelona and this term has proven no different. No sooner did he arrive at the Catalan club in the summer of 2013, than the former Santos star had to have tonsil surgery which subsequently caused anaemia and required him to be gradually eased into action.
Last year, the Brazil forward was sidelined by a challenge by Colombia defender Juan Zúñiga during the World Cup, which fractured a vertebra in his spine and prevented him from finding his groove until mid-September.
This time round, a bout of the mumps kept Neymar out of the Spanish Super Cup, the UEFA Super Cup and Barça's La Liga opener. To add insult to injury, just when he seemed to have shaken off the infection, he suffered a knee problem that limited his involvement for Brazil against Costa Rica to a 10-minute cameo.
Neymar has only made one other appearance this season. That came in the last match before the international break, against Málaga on 29th August. The 23-year-old performed well, but tiredness took its toll after his long layoff and he was substituted by Luis Enrique late on.
While Leo Messi and Luis Suárez can be expected to go into the big game against Atlético firing on all cylinders, it remains to be seen what sort of condition Neymar will be in at the Calderón. That said, Atlético are an opponent he loves facing, so he won't want to miss out.
Source: Marca
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