Neymar or Gareth Bale? Who is the better player?
Neymar Jr is one of the finest strikers Brazil has ever produced. His commendable statistics and play style is something that anyone will wish for. Neymar has secured the 3rd best player position after Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for a very long time. The amount of talent he possesses is extraordinary and something that is seen in very few players in the history of football.
Gareth Bale the former Welsh striker and captain is considered the greatest Welsh player in their history. During his whole career, Bale has scored quite a lot of bangers and is an inspiration to hundreds of youngsters who are planning to make it big. The player won many titles during his time at Real Madrid and will always be considered a legend for the club.
Apart from the Messi-Ronaldo debate, the world witnessed a head-to-head contest between Neymar Jr and Bale. Let’s take a look at the club goals of these attacking monsters.
1: Personal Stats
The best way to compare wingers is to look at the stats. Let’s take a look at their club statistics from 2013.
Bale was signed by Real Madrid in 2013 at a world record fee of £85.1 million. Neymar was signed by FC Barcelona at a fee of £57 million.
| Season | Neymar | Bale |
| 2013/14 | 15 | 22 |
| 2014/15 | 39 | 17 |
| 2015/16 | 31 | 19 |
| 2016/17 | 20 | 9 |
| 2017/18 | 28 | 21 |
| 2018/19 | 23 | 14 |
| 2019/20 | 19 | 3 |
| 2020/21 | 17 | 16 |
| 2021/22 | 13 | 1 |
| Total | 205 | 122 |
Club Assists:
| Season | Neymar | Bale |
| 2013/14 | 15 | 9 |
| 2014/15 | 10 | 12 |
| 2015/16 | 25 | 14 |
| 2016/17 | 26 | 16 |
| 2017/18 | 16 | 7 |
| 2018/19 | 17 | 7 |
| 2019/20 | 21 | 2 |
| 2020/21 | 11 | 3 |
| 2021/22 | 8 | – |
| Total | 136 | 70 |
The most number of assists by Neymar was in 2016/17, a total of 26 assists in the season the poorest season in terms of assists was 2021/22 with just 8 assists. On the other hand, the best season for Bale was also 2016/17 but with only 16 assists. Neymar again being ahead of Bale in one more aspect of the game.
2: Titles
Bale has a total of 16 trophies during his stay in the Spanish Capital. He had important contributions in winning La Liga , La Decima and 2 European titles as
well.
BALE | TROPHIES |
3 | League |
8 | Cup |
5 | Champions |
16 | Total |
NEYMAR | TROPHIES |
6 | LEAGUE TITLES |
12 | CUP COMPETITIONS |
1 | CHAMPIONS LEAGUE |
19 | Total |
Neymar won 11 trophies out of 19 after he moved to PSG. In his period in Barcelona, he won a total of 8 trophies out of which one was a Champions
League trophy.
3: International Career
Bale was just 16 years old when he played his first international match against Trinidad and Tobago. He scored 38 goals in 104 matches.
Meanwhile, Neymar was in splendid form for Brazil. In fact, many people were even expecting him to lift the World Cup for the sixth time.
| Neymar | Bale | |
| Matches | 119 | 104 |
| Goals | 74 | 38 |
| Assists | 52 | 22 |
The amount of passion and love Neymar has for his country is second to none. Neymar is miles ahead of Bale in international matches. He played a total of 119 matches in which he scored a total of 74 goals and 52 assists making him undoubtedly better than Bale. One factor that must be considered here is that Bale plays for Wales, a team in which he is the main man and there are very few famous players in their squad.
Neymar Or Bale? Who is the better player?
Gareth Bale is a beast when unleashed can destroy any team he plays against. The world still remembers his goal at the final in a Clasico when he ran past the defence of Barcelona and Marc Batra to score an absolute banger securing the title for Real Madrid. Without him, the trio of BBC would have never reached the heights and possibly the three-peat would not have been possible. Bale has given a lot to Real Madrid and deserves the legendary status.
Neymar is an absolute baller who is not only good at football but many other things too. The kind of control he has over the ball and the way he dribbles has won millions of hearts over the world. Every individual who loves to dribble and is a playmaker can learn a lot just by watching his videos. The numerous titles he has achieved and the career he has had is enough to point out that Neymar is a more complete player than Gareth Bale.
