Barcelona boss Xavi compares Real Madrid star to Neymar

Real Madrid and Barcelona are in a title race at the moment. It must be said that the Catalan giants have improved this season in league competition, while Los Blancos have struggled a bit lately, largely due to fitness problems and fatigue. As things stand, Xavi’s side are five points ahead of their eternal rivals at the halfway mark of the season.

Interestingly, Xavi has appeared to offer some support to one of Real Madrid’s star players, who has been going through a bit of a tough time lately.

Vinicius Junior has been on the end of several heavy challenges this season. Just in the previous game against Valencia, we saw Gabriel Paulista being sent off for a rough tackle on the Brazilian defender.

It seems pretty similar to what someone like Neymar has had to face throughout the course of his career. As reported by GOAL, Xavi said:

"“Vinicius, who is very good one on one, causes the opponent to be more aggressive.“That also happened with Neymar. There is a referee and a committee that must do their job.”"

Barcelona boss Xavi compares Real Madrid star to Neymar

Vinicius had started the season in great form but saw it dip in recent times. Of course, one must point out that he has had to face several issues throughout the course of the campaign.

He seems to be coming back into a bit of form lately though, and has found the back of the net in a few important games.

Coming back to the Neymar comparison though, one would hope that Vinicius gets as much protection as possible.

We have seen Neymar being on the end of several bad challenges throughout the course of his career, and it has resulted in him suffering numerous injuries as well. As a result, the Brazilian was never quite able to achieve what he could have, if he had managed to stay fit. One can make a similar comparison with Eden Hazard as well.

Injuries have not been a problem for Vinicius till now. But that does not mean that they will not be later on in his career.