Neymar suffered another blow in his second game back from a serious knee injury. The star player came on in the second half of Al Hilal’s 3-0 win over Esteghlal on Monday in the AFC Champions League, but felt pain and was substituted after less than 30 minutes on the pitch.
Neymar placed his hand on his left thigh and was treated on the edge of the pitch during a break in play. The striker returned to the pitch after a scare but couldn’t stop himself from moving towards the ball, in which he painfully stretched his right leg to reach the pass in midfield.
Check the details of the match Al Hilal 3-0 Esteghlal
The Brazilian came on 12 minutes into the second half, replacing Al Hamdan. After a clash with his opponent, Zobeir Niknafs, he was involved in an altercation. In the 87th minute, Neymar left the pitch clearly dissatisfied and made way for Al-Qahtani.
Aleksandar Mitrović completed a hat-trick to give Al Hilal victory, with Brazilian Renan Lodi assisting the second goal. This result allowed Jorge Jesus’ team to remain at the top of the Asian Champions League’s western group with 12 points after four games.
As Neymar is not registered for domestic competitions, he will only be able to return to the pitch at the end of the month, on November 26, for the match on day 5 of the Champions League. Al-Hilal will visit Al Sadd in Qatar. Without the Brazilian star, the team hosts Al Ettifaq next Friday at 11:45 (Brasília) in the Saudi League.
Neymar felt pain in his thigh after entering the pitch in the win against Al-HilalYasser Bakhsh / GETTY IMAGES EUROPE / Getty Images via AFP
