Who are Neymar's favourite opponents?

At 26, Neymar is in his footballing prime at Paris; his matchday two hat-trick against Crvena zvezda took him to 30 goals in Europe's top club competition – matching Kaká's Brazilian record. One more goal and he will join Rivaldo as Brazil's all-time top scorer in UEFA club competition.

• Neymar failed to score in his first five #UCL games for Barcelona, but the dam burst on 11 December 2013 when the Brazilian scored a hat-trick in a 6-1 group stage defeat of Celtic at Camp Nou.

• That first hat-trick was scored inside 15 minutes, Neymar finding the net in the 44th, 48th and 58th minutes. He finally got his second #UCL hat-trick – and first for Paris – against Crvena zvezda in the 2018/19 competition, though it took him 62 minutes to hit three this time (20, 22, 81).

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Five great Neymar goals

• Statistics suggest that Celtic and Crvena zvezda are his favourite opponents, though it is easy to see why Paris were so keen to sign him in summer 2017; he had scored seven goals against them in six games for Barcelona.

• Neymar has scored against 11 of the 19 sides he has met in Europe; to date, Roma have kept him at bay for the longest: 180 minutes without conceding.

• The Brazilian's scoring rate has improved significantly since he came to Paris. At Barcelona, he scored 21 goals in 40 #UCL games (3,408m of football in total), at an average rate of a goal every 162m17s. He has averaged just under a goal a game for Paris – nine in ten (over 892m) – finding the target every 99m7s.

• His overall goals-per-minute game is not quite up to the standard of Lionel Messi (a goal every 100m7s) or Cristiano Ronaldo (one every 112m52s).

Who has Neymar scored against in UEFA competition?

• Neymar has taken on sides from 11 nations in the UEFA Champions League, and to date the only country that has a collective clean sheet against the Brazilian is Cyprus – though that only amounts to 90 minutes of Barcelona's 1-0 win against APOEL in the 2014/15 group stage.

• Cyprus aside, he has found goals easiest to come by against clubs from lower-ranked leagues, averaging a goal a game or better against teams from Belarus, Belgium, France, Scotland and Serbia.

• Teams from the four highest-ranked leagues may wonder what the fuss is about. To date, he has scored only once in five games against Spanish sides, and once in eight meetings with Serie A clubs. Two goals have come in nine meetings with Premier League sides, although Bundesliga sides have more reason to be cautious – Neymar averages a goal every 135m against German teams.

Which nations' clubs has Neymar scored against?

When Neymar has scored his UEFA Champions League goals

• The message for Neymar's opponents is don't drop off if he doesn't score in the first ten minutes; ten of his 30 goals in the UEFA Champions League have been scored between the 11th and 30th minutes of games.

Neymar celebrates Barcelona's 6-1 win against Paris©AFP/Getty Images

• The Brazilian's other big scoring hotspot is the final minutes – plus added time: five goals between the 85th minute and the final whistle (two of those in Barcelona's 6-1 comeback win against Paris from 2017).

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Last updated: 29/10/18