Manuel Neuer will go down in history as one of the all-time great goalkeepers; there’s no doubting that.
The 38-year-old, who announced his retirement from international football in August after winning 124 caps for Germany, is already regarded as a Bayern Munich legend having lifted 11 Bundesliga titles and two Champions League trophies.
His numbers speak volumes. From 2013 to 2016, Neuer was named World’s Best Goalkeeper by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics four years in a row, and claimed the honour for a fifth time in 2020.
In 2015/16, Neuer set a Bundesliga record for the most clean sheets (21) in a single season and between November 2012 and March 2014, Neuer went 48 games without a single defeat – the longest unbeaten record of any goalkeeper in history.
The list continues but on Wednesday evening, the man who has played more times for Germany than any other goalkeeper produced one of the worst displays of his career.
Neuer made a handful of individual errors at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys as goals from Raphinha [3] and Robert Lewandowski sealed a relatively straightforward win for Barcelona, who built on their impressive run of form with a 4-1 victory.
Bayern, meanwhile, were on the back foot from minute one after Raphinha rounded Neuer with ease before tapping into an empty net.
It was the start of a disastrous evening for the experienced shot-stopper, who received a career-low FotMob rating of 3.0.
Here’s how fans on social media reacted to Neuer’s performance.
One said: “It breaks me into a thousand pieces saying this, but Neuer is insanely washed,” while another wrote: “It’s so sad seeing Neuer so washed up. It’s even sadder seeing delusional people still defend him.”
A third commented: “Neuer can’t stop a shot to save his live. We’re getting embarrassed and dismantled by the Barcelona of Hansi Flick. TV off.”
A fourth wrote: “Neuer is for me top 3 Bayern players of all time but at some point we need to let it go. He’s washed and doesn’t deserve to earn £20m. It’s embarrassing that he’s getting an extension only because of his legend status.”
A fifth added: “One of the worst games I’ve ever seen from Neuer.”
Image credit: X/@Tunnykvng
Thoughts on Neuer’s performance? Let us know.
Featured Image Credit: TNT Sports
Topics: Manuel Neuer, Bayern Munich, Bundesliga, Germany, Barcelona, Champions League