With João Neves, everything breathes football. The Parisian public discovers it, weekend after weekend, to their delight. Landing in the French capital during the summer after having trained with Benfica, the young Portuguese midfielder did not take long to make a name for himself within the Ile-de-France team. Positioned in the Parisian midfield, the native of Tavira has been performing XXL performances for several weeks. Already leading 5 assists in Ligue 1, the 1m74 right-hander once again shone brightly on Friday evening during Paris’ victory against Stade Rennais (3-1).
João Neves, the boss of the industry
Aligned alongside Warren Zaire-Emery and Fabian Ruiz, the PSG sentinel, provisionally leader while waiting for the other matches of this 6th day of Ligue 1, simply delighted the Parc des Princes. In all the good moves, he set the tempo against the Bretons who were generally overwhelmed. In 90 minutes, the man who celebrated his 20th birthday finally delivered a real masterclass, whether through his activity, his inspirations and his sense of movement. With 113 balls touched, 100% successful dribbles, 8 duels won out of 13 contested, 12 ball recoveries, 2 key passes and 93% success in transmission, Neves bluffed. Once again.
Authoritative in the duel, stainless in recovery and oh so valuable in the development of the Parisian game, number 87 of the Rouge et Bleu has continued to gain the upper hand over his direct opponents. A considerable contribution allowing Luis Enrique’s men to control the debates (62% ball possession). Impressive defensively, Neves, credited with a 7 by the FM editorial team, is also impressive on the edge of the opponent’s area. Confusing in the aerial field (two headers blocked from corners, 13th, 36th), the Portuguese international (11 caps) could also have afforded himself a new decisive pass if Achraf Hakimi had not been signaled in an off position. -game (48th). A capital performance logically greeted by his teammates at the final whistle.
The PSG locker room is a total fan!
“Frankly, he is everywhere, whether in defense or attack, he recovers a lot of balls, gives very good passes. He had a great match as usual, I’m happy for him and I hope he continues.”underlined, in this capacity, Bradley Barcola at the microphone of DAZN. “How far will he go? We don’t know yet. He is only 21 years old. He is currently enjoying football at the highest level. With great quality in handling the game, pressing, recovering the balls. He was superb today. It’s a pleasure to have players of this level and with this mentality”added, for his part, Luis Enrique at a press conference. Asked about his beginnings in the City of Lights, the Portuguese, present in the mixed zone, shared the behind the scenes of this express and successful integration. “My main quality? I am a player who always thinks about the team. That’s why PSG came to get me. I think it’s the club’s ideology and I identify with it.”.
“I try to do my best, to push the team. We always want to win, we played well. I’m very happy to be here, I’m happy with my teammates, the people in France, the city, I feel good.”recognized the one who sees his contract run until June 2029 before praising Bradley Barcola and… his coach. “He is a very great player, the team remains the most important and the individualities of each player make the team better. I’m impressed by his performance, he’s a great player with the ball, technically it’s incredible, in training, I try to defend on him but it’s a bit complicated (laughs). Luis Enrique? I love his ideas, his way of playing and it’s the best for me, to progress on an individual level”. With João Neves at this level, PSG can in any case aspire to big things, starting next Tuesday during the trip to London where the reigning French champions will meet Arsenal for the 2nd day of the Champions League…
