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PSG vs Barcelona: Ronaldinho or Neymar, who is the greater legend?

14 October 2026 · Footballers

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Paris Saint-Germain host Barcelona at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday 20 October, in the third round of the Champions League league phase, with kick-off at 9pm Paris time. Few clubs have swapped as many great players as these two, and the cleanest way to settle the argument between them is a Brazilian one: Ronaldinho against Neymar. Both wore both shirts, and the box above shows how the world splits on them today.

Ronaldinho came first. He spent two seasons in Paris before Barcelona signed him in 2003, at a time when the club had gone years without a league title. With him smiling at the centre of everything, Barcelona won La Liga twice and the Champions League in 2006. He won the Ballon d'Or in 2005 and the FIFA World Player of the Year award twice, and the same year he scored twice at the Santiago Bernabéu and was applauded by the Real Madrid crowd, which almost never happens to a Barcelona player. With Brazil he had already won the 2002 World Cup, lobbing David Seaman from a free kick in the quarter-final against England.

Neymar arrived at Barcelona from Santos in 2013 and formed the famous front three with Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez. Together they won the treble in 2015, and Neymar scored in the Champions League final against Juventus in Berlin. His most famous Barcelona night came against PSG itself: in March 2017, Barcelona had lost the first leg in Paris by four goals, and Neymar scored twice late in the return and set up the winner in a six-goal comeback at the Camp Nou. That summer PSG paid a world-record fee to take him to Paris, where he won the French league several times. With Brazil he later passed Pelé as the national team's top scorer in official matches.

So the vote comes down to what you value. Ronaldinho means joy and a peak that changed a club: for three seasons he looked like the best player in the world, and he had the trophies to prove it. Neymar means a longer career at the top, more goals and a record transfer, but also the sense that injuries and moves kept him from the individual awards many expected.

The two clubs share more names than these. Lionel Messi, who played next to Ronaldinho as a teenager and next to Neymar in his prime, joined PSG in 2021, and Messi against Neymar is the same argument from a different angle. Zlatan Ibrahimović played a season at Barcelona before becoming a PSG icon. And the newest face-off is happening on the pitch: Ousmane Dembélé, who left Barcelona for PSG in 2023 and won the Ballon d'Or in 2025, against Lamine Yamal, the Barcelona academy winger who won Euro 2024 with Spain as a teenager.

Whatever happens in Paris, the vote stays open. Pick Ronaldinho or Neymar above, then try Dembélé against Yamal and Messi against Neymar, or see where all of them stand in the Football Top 100, ranked by everyone.

Vote: Ronaldinho vs Neymar

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