Neymar missed the match of his club Santos, which suffered a 1:2 defeat to the Atletico Mineiro team. The match was a direct battle for fifth place in the Brazilian Serie A, which gives the right to participate in the qualifying rounds of the Copa Libertadores, with the team of the former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain star moving seven points away from the coveted goal, while the opponent came two points closer.
Neymar's absence turned out to be key, as the player showed a few days ago that he is in great form, scoring two goals against the champion Flamengo.
However, he was not in the group for the last clash at all, since the field of "Estadio Presidente Elias Kalil" in Belo Horizonte, where Atletico Mineiro plays its home matches, has an artificial pitch, and Neymar refuses to play on such a surface after a match against the same opponent. In a match between the two teams last year, the player's foot got stuck in the ground in the first minute and required medical attention. In addition, the player's decision came against the backdrop of his cautious return from a muscle injury in his right thigh, which was part of a series of injuries that tormented him constantly during the last season.
Otherwise, Santos, in the absence of its big star, could have won at least a point. The match was heading towards a goalless draw, and even in the 88th minute Gabriel Barbosa put the guests ahead. Vitor Hugo, however, equalized in the first minute of added time, and in the 7th minute of extra time, Thiago Borbas made a complete turnaround and kept everything for the hosts from Atletico Mineiro.
A few more matches from the Brazilian championship were played last night, with two of them having a role in the battle for the title.
Flamengo continued to lead the column after a very difficult victory over Fluminense with 1:0, while Palmeiras remained a point behind the "rubro-negro" after a 4-1 defeat against Corinthians with Memphis Depay in their squad.
Bahia, on the other hand, maintained fifth place, which is also being fought for by Atletico Mineiro and Santos, winning at home against Mirasol 1-0.
Internacional and Gremio, on the other hand, drew 1-1, which kept both teams in the relegation zone.