Neymar made his second appearance for Al Hilal as he works his way back from a year-long absence following an ACL injury, though his time on the pitch was brief.
The Brazilian forward entered in the 58th minute during Al Hilal’s 3-0 victory in an Asian Champions League Elite match on Monday. Less than 30 minutes later, he was substituted after going to the ground clutching the back of his right leg, appearing to have strained it while stretching for a ball in the penalty box.
Aleksandar Mitrovic led the way with a hat-trick, securing Al Hilal’s top position in the Champions League group stage standings.
Neymar first played for Al Hilal on October 21 after joining from Paris Saint-Germain in 2023, though he hadn’t seen further action until Wednesday’s game against Esteghlal, as he won’t be eligible for Saudi Pro League matches until January.
Al Hilal had intended a gradual comeback for Brazil’s all-time top scorer, who sustained a cruciate ligament injury last year in Brazil’s World Cup qualifier against Uruguay shortly after joining the Saudi club, followed by surgery in November.
He was also omitted from Brazil’s latest roster for November’s World Cup qualifiers, with coach Dorival explaining that both the team and federation wanted to give him ample recovery time before returning to international play.
Brazil currently sits fourth in their World Cup qualifying group, trailing leaders Argentina by four points after ten matches.
Neymar got sub on for his 2nd appearance in over a year against Esteghal FC only to get subbed off after 20 minutes.
It might be finally time for us all to accept the fact that his body can’t handle professional football anymore. pic.twitter.com/j8cBiymZhf
— 天蝎座 (@UtdEIIis) November 4, 2024
🚨🚨🚨The moment Neymar Jr got injured pic.twitter.com/NxKXzHvpIS
— 𝐂𝐀 𝐕𝐀?🐐🐐 (@psg_chief) November 4, 2024
Neymar
BrazilNeymar has not played yet in this season. Last season he played in total 3 times for 206 minutes for Pro League.
Al Hilal performance and stats
Al Hilal
Al Hilal is currently 1st in the Pro League with 25 points.
In the last 9 games, it has won 8 times and drew once. In its last match, Al Hilal drew 1-1 against Al Nassr.
It has a positive goal difference after scoring 24 goals and conceding 7.
Al Hilal will play the next match in Pro League against Al Ettifaq on Friday 8th of November in . The prediction is Al Hilal winning the match.
