Neymar names Chelsea star among top five best defenders in the world

PSG star and Brazil international Neymar Jr has named Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly as one of the top five defenders in the world.

Neymar, who has played for Barcelona before moving to PSG listed the five toughest opponents he has come across during his career in an interview with DAZN.

The five defenders the Brazil star has found most difficult to play against are Koulibaly, Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk, Manchester City’s Ruben Dias, Real Madrid’s Antonio Rudiger and Manchester United’s Raphael Varane.

“Playing against Van Dijk is tough because as a centre-back, he’s so strong and intelligent. He knows when it’s the right time to close you down and when to go in for a tackle. That makes it harder. It’s harder to play against intelligent centre-backs. They don’t make mistakes,” Neymar said.

“Ruben Dias is a very good centre-back. He’s quick and strong. He has quality as well, so that makes it hard to play against him.

“The same (as Dias). He [Koulibaly] is quick and very strong.

“I’ve played against Varane many times. He’s a very good centre-back. He’s quick and intelligent. His positioning is very good. He’s a top player. He almost never gets it wrong. That’s why he’s won so much.

“I like Rudiger. He’s a centre-back who strikes fear into you. He’s very strong and big! Some forwards get a bit scared. I don’t, but I think many forwards do get a bit scared!”