Barely a week after returning from a lengthy injury, Brazilian forward Neymar’s return to the pitch on Monday night suffered another setback in his second match of the 2024/25 season for Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal following a 12-month torn ACL injury layoff.

Since joining Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal from Paris Saint-Germain last summer in a mega deal, Neymar has struggled to make the matchday squads due to injuries that have seen him play only five matches in all competitions.

The former Barcelona forward, who has only been registered for the AFC Champions League Elite, was introduced in the 58th minute as Al-Hilal faced Esteghlal of Iran.

Al-Hilal went on to win 3-0 as Serbian striker Aleksandar Mitrovic scored a hat trick for the four-time Asian champion, registering a fourth win in all four games in the group stage.

However, Neymar was substituted with three minutes to the end of the match, having seemed to pull up after stretching his leg out for the ball in the penalty area.

With the next game in the AFC competition slated for November 25, Neymar has time to recover from the injury before the next match.

The 32-year-old took to Instagram to address the injury scare, stating that he was warned by the doctor about the reoccurrence of the injury.

‘‘I’ll do some tests, and hopefully it’s nothing too much,’’ he said on his Instagram story. ‘‘It’s normal that after one year [out] this happens; the doctors had already warned me, so I have to be careful and play more minutes.”

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