Al-Hilal Icon Neymar Jr. Faces Setback: Injured Again Just Two Matches After Year-Long ACL Return!

Al-Hilal stunned Esteghlal F.C. 3-0 in their AFC Champions League game on November 4, 2024 in a dominant performance. With goals in the 15th, 33rd, and 74th minutes and a hat-trick with striking force, Aleksandar Mitrovič was the match's hero. Al-Hilal showed their dominance all through the game by keeping 65% possession and running 612 passes. At 13, Esteghlal matched their opponent's total shots, but only scored four on target out of Al-Hilal's eight. With 12 points, Al-Hilal's flawless record in the competition was confirmed with this victory, so they stayed top of Group B. Neymar picked up another injury on Monday in just his second game since returning from a 12-month absence as Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal defeated Esteghlal of Iran 3-0 in the AFC Champions League Elite.

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Neymar Jr. suffers another setback in his second game for Al-Hilal since injury return

The Brazilian has only recently recovered from a torn ACL and came off the bench in Riyadh after 58 minutes. However, the 32 year-old forward had to come off with three minutes remaining, having seemed to pull up after stretching his leg out for the ball in the penalty area.

Neymar has time to recover before his next game, however, as he is not registered for the team’s matches in the Saudi Pro League and the next fixture in the AFC competition is on Nov. 25.

Aleksandar Mitrovic scored a hat trick for Al-Hilal, the four-time Asian champion which has now won all four games in the group stage.

All three goals from the Serbian came from close range. He opened the scoring after 15 minutes, added a second just after the half-hour mark and then completed his hat trick with 16 minutes remaining.

Al-Hilal remains top of the 12-team group, where the top eight will advance to the Round of 16. It is above Saudi Arabian rival Al-Ahli on goal difference after the team from Jeddah thrashed Al-Shorta of Iraq 5-1 with former Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino scoring twice in the first half.

Earlier, Al-Wasl of the United Arab Emirates drew 1-1 with Qatar’s Al-Sadd and the game between Persepolis of Iran and Al-Gharafa of Qatar ended in the same scoreline.

(AP)