Neymar thinks Cristiano Ronaldo should take responsibility for his actions

Cordoba-CF-v-Real-Madrid-CF-La-Liga

Neymar believes Cristiano Ronaldo “needs to be punished” for the action that led to his red card last weekend, though the Barcelona star did commiserate with his La Liga rival about the incident.

“It is difficult because sometimes there is provocation,” he said. “It happened to Zinedine Zidane, it happened to me. Nobody has the coolness to remain calm 100 per cent of the time.

“We must think with our heads. I think he should be punished.

“It is the referee’s responsibility to protect players on the pitch, particularly when they are targeted by hard challenges. Hard tackles must be punished.”

The Brazilian superstar may get his wish, with the Ballon d’Or winner facing anything up to a TWELVE match ban when the disciplinary hearing takes place on Wednesday, according to Catalan newspaper Mundo Deportivo.

However, such a sanction would be extremely unlikely, and the Portuguese may actually only miss Los Blancos’ home clash with Real Sociedad at the weekend.

A late Gareth Bale penalty sealed the three points for Real against Cordoba, and they sit a point clear of Barcelona at the top of La Liga, with a game in hand over their great rivals.