Neymar was injured again soon after his return – but he expected that

Neymar earns 100 million euros a year at Saudi club Al-Hilal. But since his move to the club who have long been interested in Lionel Messi in the summer of 2023, he has made just seven appearances on the pitch. The reason for this is a torn cruciate ligament, which took him out of action for more than a year.

Two weeks ago, the 32-year-old finally returned from a short stint in the Asian Champions League. Neymar was left out of the squad for both league games over the past two weeks – including against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr. Yesterday, Monday, the Brazilian was replaced again in the 58th minute of the match against Esteghlal FC from Iran. But he didn’t last long on the field. He had to be replaced again in the 87th minute due to injury.

In almost 30 minutes he tried to communicate with opponents as little as possible. Neymar still feared another injury in his second appearance after the long break. An excerpt from the game shows how he regularly avoids potential duels. However, in the latter stages of Al-Hilal’s 3-0 win, he felt pain in his right thigh after being tackled by an opponent.

It is not yet known how serious the injury is and whether Neymar will be out again. However, his coach Jorge Jesus indicated after the game that Neymar would be out for at least two weeks. The injury was muscular and not the knee with the cruciate ligament torn a year ago.

The offensive player himself made the information clear on Instagram and indicated that he expected problems. “It’s normal that something like this happens after a year, the doctors had already warned me,” said the 128-time national player, who has already shown some tricks in the limited playing time.

Now he has to be careful and get more and more playing minutes. Neymar is also used to injury-related absences from previous stations such as PSG or Barcelona. The injury in Monday’s Champions League game felt “like a very strong cramp,” Neymar explained, adding: “I’ll have tests and I hope it’s nothing serious.” (no)