Messi, Neymar and five great players in decline

James Shearman

• Updated: 16 Mar 2022 11:04 CDT
• 4 min read

Paris Saint-Germain duo Lionel Messi and Neymar are among five of football's biggest names that are showing clear signs of regression.

Both left Barca for France, under different circumstances, hoping to replicate what they achieved in Spain.

But, neither have lived up to expectations, as PSG are still missing an inaugural Champions League trophy after defeat to Real Madrid last week.

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Although, the South American pair aren't the only superstars to slow down in the 2021/22 campaign.

Unfortunately, decline comes with every player and, in this season, we have witnessed a major downfall in performance from five top players.

Cristiano Ronaldo

At 37, Cristiano Ronaldo doesn't have many more years at the top left. His recent hat-trick against Tottenham displayed he still has the talent, but it papered over the cracks of a poor few months.

His movement and lack of defensive awareness has come at the cost of Man Utd's fluidity, and many fans aren't too pleased.

If he continues at the rate he's going Ronaldo will end the season with less than 20 league goals, which hasn't happened since the final year of his first spell at Old Trafford.

Worst of all, the Portugal international Ronaldo could well have played his last ever Champions League game.

Luis Suarez

Two summers ago, Suarez was informed by Ronald Koeman that his time at Barcelona was over.

The Uruguayan, clearly, took this personally and went on to sign for Atletico Madrid.

He was one of the players of the season as Los Colchoneros won La Liga at the expense of Barca and Madrid, hitting 21 league goals in the process.

However, his output this campaign and his importance to Atletico as a whole has declined as he has found the back of the net on just nine occasions.

A high-profile spat with Diego Simeone has also impacted his influence on the team, while he has to fight fiercely for minutes up against Antoine Griezmann, Angel Correa and Joao Felix.

Neymar

Neymar's decline has been, arguably, the sharpest, mainly due to his injury record at PSG which is appalling.

Since making the move to the French capital, Neymar has missed over 100 games due to injury.

The Brazilian has never once played more than 20 of PSG’s 38 Ligue 1 matches in his five seasons at the club. In fact, in three of the four previous campaigns he has featured in less than 50 per cent of Ligue 1 games.

In the 2021/22 season, he has scored five goals and recorded five assists in all competitions.

Romelu Lukaku

Romelu Lukaku was meant to be the final piece of the jigsaw at Stamford Bridge when he returned to the club in 2021.

Chelsea had won the Champions League without a natural number 9 and Lukaku was signed to take the Blues to Premier League glory.

But his numbers of eight goals and zero assists from 23 games are way off what is expected for a £100 million outlay.

Lukaku hasn’t quite fit into Chelsea’s style of play, who are well off the pace set by City in the Premier League.

Lionel Messi

In the summer of 2021, Lionel Messi completed an extremely emotional departure from Barcelona.

The Argentine admitted that he did not want to leave the club, but it was the club itself that revealed that they would no longer be able to afford to pay his wages due to their financial issues.

He would subsequently move to PSG, but he has been unable to hit the heights he reached at Barcelona.

Messi has scored just two goals in Ligue 1 so far this campaign, though he has recorded 10 assists.

But, even if he is now much more of a creator than a goalscorer, the lack of goals is extremely concerning.