Barcelona coach Luis Enrique said Neymar is a "unique" player, when asked to compare the Brazilian to his current teammate Lionel Messi and compatriot Ronaldinho. The 23-year-old turned in another match-winning performance in Sunday evening's 3-0 La Liga win at home to Villarreal.
Two goals from Neymar, and one from Luis Suarez, saw off what had been an excellent Villarreal performance at the Camp Nou. The Brazilian's second was a superb effort when he raced 50 yards to take Suarez's return pass, flicked the ball over Villarreal defender Jaume Costa, pirouetted and volleyed the dropping ball into the net from 15 yards.
Since blaugrana talisman Messi was injured in late September, Neymar has scored 10 times and added six assists during 10 games in La Liga and the Champions League.
Asked after the game if Neymar's recent performances mean he is now the world's second-best player behind Messi, the Barca coach said he had a squad packed with world-class superstars.
"I will leave that for you guys," Luis Enrique said. "I am delighted to have Neymar, Leo, [Sergio] Busquets, Andres [Iniesta], Luis [Suarez]. I am privileged, they are unique players committed to the collective cause."
Asked to compare Neymar's form and style of play to former Barca- fans favourite Ronaldinho, Luis Enrique again declined to go too far.
"I repeat that I am very bad [at comparisons]," he said. "I had the good fortune to play with Ronaldinho and we used to just stand and watch him. The goal stands out, they are unique players, key for achieving objectives."
Barca have now won six straight games in La Liga and the Champions League, and after the coming international break will play Real Madrid on Nov. 21 in the Clasico at the Bernabeu.
"It is not for me to say if this is our best moment of the season, but we are getting better," Luis Enrique said. "I hope and wish that we can get a lot better, but we allowed Villarreal to create few chances, which means we did well. In both aspects of play [attack and defence] we did well."
The shut-out means it's now five clean sheets in Barca's last six games in all competitions, as defensive issues from the first few months of season have been resolved, according to their coach.
"Based on what does not work, we try and analyse it and sort it out," he said.
Asked whether Messi will be back for the Clasico in a fortnight's time, Luis Enrique said: "[Messi] is neither ruled out nor certain to play.
"He is still in the recovery process. It is going well. There are two weeks left. We will get Messi back, but either before or after that game. The only thing we are concerned about, since Leo was injured, was for him to recover well. We are infinitely stronger with Messi."
Barca defender Gerard Pique also spoke in the mixed zone after the game, denying he and his teammates had made a mess while dressing-up for Halloween after last weekend's 2-0 win at Getafe, and rejecting criticism from the suburban Madrid club's president.
"It is not true that we left the Getafe dressing rooms in that way," Pique said. "The Getafe president Angel Torres is a 'merengue', a very big Real Madrid fan, and wants to be the club's president. Next year we will dress up again."