Former Barcelona forward makes return after a year out

Neymar is back in action after a year on the sidelines with a serious knee injury.

The former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain forward made his comeback in Al-Hilal’s 5-4 win over UAE Pro League side Al-Ain in the Asian Champions League.

The 32-year-old Brazil superstar came on for the injured Nasser Al-Dawsari in the 77th minute with his team leading 5-3 thanks to Salem Al-Dawsari’s hat-trick and goals from Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Renan Lodi.

Spread the word 📰

The Legend @neymarjr is back 🤩💙 pic.twitter.com/vLOqb1UuZ0

— AlHilal Saudi Club (@Alhilal_EN) October 21, 2024

He then came close to scoring after a counter-attack late on, before Al-Ain pulled one back in stoppage time with a penalty from Soufiane Rahimi, who also bagged a hat-trick.

“I feel good, it’s so hard. I always have a good team. But I’m so happy. I’m back,” said an emotional Neymar after the game at the Hazza bin Zayed stadium.

Neymar had not played for a year after suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury during Brazil’s qualifier against Uruguay in October 2023.

He underwent surgery last November.