25 August (Reuters) Des Buckingham, the coach of Mumbai City, described the possibility of playing Neymar and the rest of Al-Hilal’s expensively formed team as “exciting” when the Indian team was paired with the Saudi team in this year’s Asian Champions League.
The Brazilian and the expensive four-time champions were selected to play the defending Indian champions in the group rounds on Thursday. The Indian champions will compete in the continental tournament for the second time when it begins in September.
According to Buckingham, who spoke to the club’s official media, “I think anyone who’s seen the movement in some of these teams, and Neymar being the latest to arrive there, it’s exciting.”
They are sending a guy of that caliber and caliber to India, which will be tremendously exciting for us, our team, and Indian fans to watch that kind of player.
Mumbai City made their tournament debut the previous year but was ousted in the group round after suffering two crushing losses against Al-Shabab of Saudi Arabia.
Those losses occurred before Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund purchased the majority of shares in four of the top teams in the nation, starting a spending frenzy that resulted in the relocation of some of the best players in the world.
Al-Hilal was one of the teams bought, and since then, they have added 11 members of Saudi Arabia’s 2022 World Cup squad to their lineup, as well as Ruben Neves of Portugal and Aleksandar Mitrovic, as well as Neymar from Paris St. Germain for almost 100 million euros ($108 million).
These high-profile additions have significantly boosted Asia’s continental championship, but while the matchup with Al-Hilal has garnered the most interest, Mumbai City will also compete against Navbahor from Uzbekistan and Nassaji Mazandaran from Iran.
On September 18 in Pune, the club’s campaign will get underway against Nassaji Mazandaran. Only the group winners will be assured a spot in the next round.
When asked about the difficulty his team faced, Buckingham responded, “On the pitch it will be good, but it’s the same as the other clubs.”
They’re excellent athletes and champions in their own right, but we must make sure we concentrate on our goals right now.
We’ll make an effort to both have fun and play the kind of football that everyone will like.
Neymar
This season he played in total 20 times for 1552 minutes for Ligue 1.
Neymar scored 13 goals for Paris Saint Germain. He procured 11 assists. He received 3 yellow cards and no red cards.
His team is currently 1st in Ligue 1. In the last match Paris Saint Germain drew 1-1 against Toulouse. The next match in Ligue 1 will be against Lens.
Al Hilal performance and stats
Al Hilal is currently 3rd in the Pro League with 7 points.
In the last 3 games, it has won twice and drawn once. In its last match, Al Hilal won 0-4 against Al Raed.
It has a positive goal difference after scoring 8 goals and conceding 2.
Al Hilal will play the next match in Pro League against Al Ittihad on Friday 1st of September in Jeddah.