Neymar, the Brazilian football superstar, suffered another injury setback on Monday during his second game back from a year-long absence. The incident occurred in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as Neymar’s Al-Hilal faced Esteghlal of Iran in the AFC Champions League Elite.
Neymar, who recently recovered from a torn ACL, came off the bench after 58 minutes. However, the 32-year-old forward was forced to leave the field with three minutes remaining after appearing to pull up after stretching his leg out for the ball in the penalty area.
Despite the injury, Neymar has time to recover before his next game, as he is not registered for Al-Hilal’s matches in the Saudi Pro League. The next fixture in the AFC competition is scheduled for November 25.
Aleksandar Mitrovic, the Serbian striker, stole the show for Al-Hilal, scoring a hat trick to lead the four-time Asian champion to a 3-0 victory. Mitrovic’s goals came from close range, with the first coming after 15 minutes, the second just after the half-hour mark, and the third with 16 minutes remaining.
Al-Hilal remains top of the 12-team group, with the top eight teams advancing to the Round of 16. They are ahead of Saudi Arabian rival Al-Ahli on goal difference after Al-Ahli thrashed Al-Shorta of Iraq 5-1, with former Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino scoring twice in the first half.
In other AFC Champions League matches, Al-Wasl of the United Arab Emirates drew 1-1 with Qatar’s Al-Sadd, while the game between Persepolis of Iran and Al-Gharafa of Qatar ended in the same scoreline.
