by Tim Stannard

Neymar faces familiar foe in Belgian battle

Brazil’s quarterfinal clash against Belgium will also see an awful lot of club teammates becoming frenenemies for a couple hours.

That’s especially the case with Manchester City with Vincent Kompany coming up against Gabriel Jesus and Kevin de Bruyne facing Fernandinho in midfield, a crucial player for the Brazilians due to the suspension of Casemiro. Chelsea’s Willian and Eden Hazard will be on opposite sides of the pitch to normal.

But the really big battle will be on Brazil’s left flank as Neymar takes on a familiar face at rightback for Belgium with his PSG colleague Thomas Meunier. So, any of the Brazilian’s ‘dramatizations’ will get some frosty looks in the Parisian club canteen next season. However, Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku was keen to defend his opponent for Friday’s clash in Kazan when asked if he was more actor than player. “(Neymar’s) Skillful. To me he's not an actor.”

With Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo out of the World Cup picture, Russia 2018 is now a big chance for Neymar to plonk himself on the top step of the Ballon d’Or podium, this year. However, there are some Belgians that quite fancy that spot as well.

The XTRA is the place to be at 7PM ET / 4PM PT for the best action and reaction from Friday’s games.

Ronaldo’s move to Juve edges closer

Compartmentalization is also a theme for the rest of the soccer world on Friday as well, as it tries to also focus on what could be one of the most dramatic transfers of all time – Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus, ending a nine-year spell at Real Madrid.

Although it remains to be seen if the transfer actually goes through, the concept is definitely real. Talks are ongoing between Ronaldo’s people and both Juventus and Real Madrid, although what comes out if it is in the tealeaves of destiny.

Nevertheless, the normally reticent super-agent of Ronaldo, Jorge Mendes, has spoken about the possibility of a move to fuel the fire. "It will only be for a new stage and a new challenge in his brilliant career."

Saturday has been mentioned as a possible day when the deal could be announced but judging by the complexity of making sure that Juventus, Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo are all happy, that seems a little unrealistic. But the world is a peculiar place these days. Stay up to date with our Twitter feed all day for all the latest news from those in the know.

TRANSFER TRACKER!

While all that hullaballoo was going on throughout Thursday, Real Madrid snuck in a cheeky deal from out of the blue by picking up Real Sociedad and Spain fullback, Alvaro Odriozola, who is going to need a huge amount of restyling over the summer, to get that perfectly trimmed Marco Asensio look.

Elsewhere, there could be a spin-off from the Ronaldo move to Juventus with a report that Liverpool might make a move to Paolo Dybala. A former Juve player, Gigi Buffon’s move to PSG could be announced on Friday with a presentation on Monday with the French club, or the whole thing done after the weekend so as not to steal France’s World Cup wind on Friday.

Over in Spain and Mundo Deportivo are suggesting that Paulinho could be returning to Guangzhou Evergrande after the Barcelona and Brazil man received a monumental offer from a club he left just a year ago.

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