Online Reporter
NEYMAR’s fairytale return to Santos is closer to a nightmare than a dream as they remain fixed in a serious relegation battle.
With six matches to go in Brazil, the South American giants are two points off the pace, although they do have a game in hand.
This is after they were beaten for the second time in a week away from home.
Title-chasing Flamengo won 3-2 over Santos in a fixture that saw Neymar start for the first time in the league since mid-September.
His return was ended early with Santos 3-0 down in the 81st minute and Neymar subbed off shortly after. He was greeted with boos from the Flamengo supporters and chants of: “Neymar, f*** off! You came back to Santos only to play in the second division!”
Santos did get two late goals back to add some respectability to the scoreline but it was too little, too late. As for Neymar, his problems will not go away as the Brazilian icon has continued to struggle with injury since his brief stay in Saudi Arabia was cut short.
He had vented towards the referee in the first half when the game was still level, screaming and moaning at a decision that went on to be Flamengo’s opener from a corner.
The official, Savio Pereira Sampaio, booked Neymar after 36 minutes and the forward was quoted by Brazilian media afterwards as saying: “The referee is very bad.
“Besides being bad, with all due respect, he’s arrogant. That’s the word.
“Every time they go to the locker room they say that the captain is the one who can speak.
“When we go to speak, he turns his back and runs away.”
Neymar added: “When I talk to him, he threatens me. It’s complicated.
“I got a yellow card because he threatened me. He said: ‘If you come near me, I’ll give you a yellow card.’ I said: ‘Can’t I talk to you?’ “ – Sun
