Fan clashes & 6-0 thrashings: How Neymar's dream Santos homecoming turned into a nightmare

It hasn't been all bad for Neymar. Indeed, his first game back for Santos after the Club World Cup-enforced break could hardly have gone better, as he scored a brilliant late winner against Flamengo, ghosting past two players and firing into the net after initially picking the ball up with his back to goal.

That 1-0 victory against the team sitting second in the Brasilerao table should have been a springboard to greater things, but the celebratory mood around Vila Belmiro lasted only two days as Santos came crashing back down to earth with a 3-0 defeat away at Mirassol.

Neymar could not hold in his frustration when speaking to the media after the game: "Everything was missing, that's why the score was 3-0. We didn't even play half the game we did against Flamengo in marking. In the game against Flamengo, they were superior in possession, and today Mirassol was the same; they were superior in every aspect."

Neymar's assessment was accurate, but he failed to acknowledge his own poor display directly. The Santos captain didn't muster a shot on target or attempt a single dribble, and he lost possession 17 times. That is simply not good enough for a player of Neymar's experience and stature.

Santos then welcomed mid-table Internacional to Vila Belmiro, knowing a defeat would leave them in the relegation places. However, that didn't spark extra urgency from Cleber Xavier's side, who fell behind after just nine minutes when Johan Carbonero ghosted in behind the last defender and rounded the goalkeeper before tapping home.

Neymar led Santos' comeback attempt as he racked up five shots and 88 touches, but Internacional doubled their lead via a Rafael Santos Borre penalty in the 75th minute. The hosts ended up falling to a 2-1 loss, with Alvaro Borreal's stoppage-time goal proving to be nothing more than a consolation, and the finger of blame was pointed at Neymar.

Facing a barrage of X-rated insults on his way back to the changing room, Neymar stopped to tell one supporter to "shut up", and the two men became embroiled in a heated argument before Santos 'keeper Gabriel Brazao ushered his team-mate away. The fan in question later apologised to Neymar on social media and admitted to using "bad language", but the Brazilian forward was not in the mood to forgive and forget.

"In the heat of emotion, it’s hard to control your feelings when you’ve been unfairly offended and I’ll never argue with a fan when he’s demanding me on the pitch," Neymar said in an emotional Instagram post. "He has the right to say whether I’ve played badly or not, and he has the right to boo. What he can’t do is offend me, the way he offended me. Saying that I’m a mercenary with my father, talking about my family/friends. Santos football club is one of my greatest passions and as long as I have the strength, I will do my best for this club. I will run, shout, and even fight if possible to get Santos where it deserves to be."

Neymar stayed true to his word in Santos' next two games as he provided the creative inspiration for thePeixe to first salvage a 2-2 draw away at Sport Recife despite going two goals down and having a man sent off, before producing a Player-of-the-Match-worthy display in their subsequent clash with Juventude.

The Brazil international scored twice as Santos picked up a vital 3-1 victory in front of a packed Vila Belmiro crowd. Neymar took his goals well, but more importantly, he ran proceedings in the same way he once did at his peak with Barca and PSG, bamboozling the opposition with his skilful flurries and masterful passing.

Carlo Ancelotti sent three members of his Brazil backroom staff to watch the match, and they will have no doubt been delighted to see Neymar back to somewhere approaching his best. The last of his 128 national team caps came way back in October 2023, but there's a real chance he could be recalled for the Selecao's next set of World Cup qualifiers in September.

"Everyone knows my style of football. I'm available, regardless of anything. I'm an athlete, I still feel good, so it depends entirely on him [Ancelotti]," Neymar told reporters after the final whistle. "Happy to play a good game, to win again, which is the most important thing. And I think our team has to keep improving from here."

Santos continued their mini-revival by beating title-chasing Cruzeiro 2-1 in their own backyard, with Neymar impressing once again as the focal point of the attack, even going viral for one sublime dummy that left his marker on the floor. For a brief moment, everything was looking rosy again as Santos moved up to 14th, five points above the drop zone, with a favourable home fixture against 17th-placed Vasco da Gama up next. 

Vasco had gone five matches without a win, and the confidence levels in the Santos camp were at their highest point since their promotion back into the Brazilian top-flight last term. But that dynamic led to the most deadly virus of all creeping into Xavier's dressing room: Complacency.

Santos were battered 6-0 in their heaviest defeat to Vasco in 98 years, and the biggest of their entire history in the Brazilian Serie A. It was also the heaviest loss of Neymar's career to date as he was completely upstaged by former Brazil team-mate Philippe Coutinho, who scored a stunning brace and tied the Santos defence in knots from the first minute to the last.

Neymar broke down in floods of tears after the referee blew to put Santos out of their misery. The first to console him was ex-Brazil manager Fernando Diniz, now in charge of Vasco, and it was genuinely moving to see the pair lock in a long embrace, mainly because of how far Neymar has fallen since their first meeting in 2023.

The Santos faithful showed their fury by turning their backs on the team as they trudged off the pitch, and Neymar admitted to the media: “I’m ashamed. I’m totally disappointed with our performance. The fans have every right to protest... If they want to curse and insult, they’re in their right.”

When pressed on his emotional reaction to the loss, which saw Xavier relieved of his head coaching duties, Neymar added: “It’s a feeling of extreme shame. I’ve never experienced this in my life. Unfortunately, it happened. The tears were from anger, from everything. Unfortunately, I can’t help in every way. Anyway, it was total sh*t, that’s the reality.”

Neymar and the rest of the squad were not given any time to reflect after returning to the club's training ground at the start of the week, where a large group of supporters were waiting to confront them. The players stood and listened to their complaints, with Neymar standing front and centre, and the once beloved academy graduate was 'threatened with violence' as tensions threatened to boil over, according to ESPN.

"Santos are trying to change things," Neymar said in an attempt to pacify the crowd, but as long as the team remains in danger of an immediate return to the second tier, there is certain to be more ugly clashes ahead. Sitting only two points clear of the bottom four without a manager, Santos are suddenly in a full-blown crisis. 

Santos are now under huge pressure to deliver a positive result when they travel to fourth-placed Bahia on Sunday, but they will have to do so without Neymar. He will be serving a one-match ban after picking up his third booking of the season against Vasco, which came about because he lost his temper when questioning the referee's decision to give a foul against his team late in the first half.

That is not the first time Neymar has let Santos down this year, and probably won't be the last. And yet, there is still hope that his second spell at Vila Belmiro will end on a triumphant note. After this weekend, Santos still have 18 games left to turn this dire situation around. They don't need to pull up any trees either; securing another season of Serie A football would be enough cause for a celebration, and if Neymar can play the leading role in getting them over the line, he'll almost certainly be kept on the books for another six months.

Earning a place in Brazil's World Cup squad would then be a realistic goal for Neymar, but the jury is still out on whether he can be a difference-maker at the very highest level again.

"He's not in his best physical condition yet. I don't know if he'd handle a high-level international match, for example. He can excel at times, but he doesn't do it every game," Bruno Lima, Santos reporter for Brazilian outlet Trivela, said this week. "When he tries to break free, when he tries to play one-on-one, he hasn't been able to. Perhaps this is also a problem for Neymar himself, accepting that his reality as an athlete has changed."

On the flip side of the coin, if Neymar can't adapt his game and consistently deliver for Santos instead of just sporadically, not only will his Brazil prospects be over, but his career could also peter out in sad fashion. For now, he remains football's greatest enigma.