Neymar emerging for Barcelona; Rashford takes centre stage against Chelsea: Weekend talking points

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  Shaun Botterill / Getty Images

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  Moussa Dembele of Celtic. Ian MacNicol / Getty Images

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  Ian Kington / AFP

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  Patrik Stollarz / AFP

With a lot going on in the football world this weekend, Thomas Woods picks the five biggest talking points. Click or swipe through for more.

Is Neymar becoming Barca’s main man?

It’s always felt like Neymar was the most expendable of Barcelona’s fantastic three up front.

As long as Lionel Messi was creating and Luis Suarez was scoring, Barca were fine. Neymar was a luxury player who often played a peripheral role.

That is all starting to change. Perhaps it is all part of a new, wiser Neymar after he got rid of his fancy hair, but the Brazilian forward has put in some superb performances recently.

Most impressive was his role in Barcelona's amazing 6-1 Uefa Champions League victory over PSG on Wednesday night.

Messi actually didn’t play that well and Suarez missed a few chances. But Neymar oozed confidence and created something almost every time he got the ball.

It was as if he had just left all inhibitions in the dressing room before the game and played with complete confidence and freedom.

It was he who was the driving force behind the three late goals that sparked the comeback. A free-kick, a penalty and an assist.

Neymar has come of age and, with constant rumours that he is set for a big-money move elsewhere, Barca need to make sure that is just talk.

Rashford will make United forget Ibrahimovic

When Manchester United travelled to Chelsea earlier in the season, Jose Mourinho made possibly the worst tactical decision of his time at Old Trafford.

Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard were selected wide, in a 4-5-1, with the aim of stifling Chelsea’s wing backs, but the duo spent so much time tracking back that United offered very little up front and ended up losing 4-0.

On Monday night, the teams meet again in London in the FA Cup and Mourinho won't make the same mistake again.

With Zlatan Ibrahimovic banned, Rashford will play in his most natural position, straight down the middle, and he can help United to victory.

Rashford has pace galore. David Luiz, Gary Cahill and Cesar Azpilicueta don’t. It’s the biggest area of weakness of this fantastic defence but something Mourinho will hope to exploit.

The United striker was a match-winner in the Manchester derby at the Etihad last season in a similar scenario, when United hit City on the break and Rashford’s speed created his goal.

Look out for something similar on Monday night.

Rangers can set the tone for next season

Celtic will win the Scottish Premiership this season, there is no doubt about that. They only need seven more points to wrap up the title and we are only at the start of March.

But Sunday’s Old Firm game, at Celtic Park, is about more than that. Rangers have lost every game to Celtic this season, by a combined score of 8-2.

But a lot could change over the summer. Celtic’s star striker, Moussa Dembele, is on the shopping lists of several big clubs and could conceivably leave for big money.

Rangers, meanwhile, will look forward to another summer of squad improvement following their return to the top flight at the start of the season. They could be in a much better place to challenge for the title in 2017/18.

That makes a good result in the Old Firm game all the more important. A victory or even a point against Celtic – or even just a close defeat – will give them belief that their rivals can be challenged.

Scottish football needs a closer race than this season, and a healthy Celtic-Rangers rivalry is at the heart of that.

Will Wenger last until the end of the season?

There’s a section of the Arsenal fanbase who lack any perspective. And they want Arsene Wenger gone as manager right now as he is “killing their club”.

Now, I’m not sure challenging for a top-four place, an FA Cup quarter-final and making the Champions League knockout stages is “killing a club”.

Go and talk to fans of Blackburn Rovers, Charlton Athletic or a host of other clubs taken down the leagues by bad ownership and management.

However, it is becoming clear that this is likely to be Wenger’s last season at Arsenal.

And there is such a frenzy after every bad result – in the media and among those fans – that you could easily see the Frenchman throwing in the towel before the end of the season.

Arsenal face fifth-tier Lincoln in the FA Cup on Saturday and there is not much risk of them losing that. But then a trip to West Brom and a home game at Manchester City, both in the Premier League, pose tougher tasks.

If there is truth in rumours of dressing-room bust-ups and an unhappy squad, we could be looking at two defeats and a sad end for Wenger.

Aubameyang almost certain for a Madrid move

It’s always been assumed that Sergio Aguero’s next club would be Real Madrid, with the Argentine’s future at Manchester City unclear.

But the form of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is putting him at the front of the queue for a Bernabeu move instead of Aguero.

Borussia Dortmund’s Gabonese striker scored a Champions League hat-trick to send his side past Benfica on Wednesday.

He has 28 goals in 31 games this season after 39 in 49 the last.

It’s going to cost plenty to prise him from Dortmund, but Aubameyang has made no secret of his wish to play for Madrid.

A strike-force of him, Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo, with Karim Benzema on the bench to help out, is a scary prospect.

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