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 ir AFC Champions League game on vember 4, 2024 in a dominant performance. With goals in 15th, 33rd, and 74th minutes and a hat-trick with striking force, Aleksandar Mitrovič was match's hero. Al-Hilal showed ir dominance all through game by keeping 65% possession and running 612 passes. At 13, Esteghlal matched ir 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 competition was confirmed with this victory, so y stayed top of Group B. Neymar picked up ar 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 AFC Champions League Elite.

Also Read: Jalen Johnson's 29 points lead Hawks past depleted Pelicans

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(AP)