Neymar says ‘the doctors warned him’ about going back to playing too quickly after his Anterior cruciate ligament injury.
The Brazilian had to withdraw from Al Hilal’s 3-0 win over Esteghlal in the AFC Champions League on Monday night after just 29 minutes after pulling up with a leg injury.
He had only returned from a year on the sidelines with an ACL blow which required him to have surgery on his left knee last month.
Taking to Instagram after his side’s victory, the 32 year old said: “‘I felt like a cramp but very strong! I will do exams and hope it’s nothing more.
“It’s normal for this to happen after one year. The doctors warned me. This is why I need to be careful and have more minutes to play.”
Monday’s clash was only the second game the former-Barcelona star had played in since his return.
He’s only managed to rack up 42 minutes of football this season.
His frustration was clear when he returned to the substitutes bench after hobbling off.
Footage shows the Brazilian ripping off his shin pad and lobbing it onto the ground, with his head dropping after.
Neymar has also been left out of Brazil’s squad for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Venezuela and Uruguay, with the international side wanting to avoid overloading their star.
Posting again later on, he reacted to the win that saw ex-Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic bag a hattrick and keep Al Hilal top of Group B.
“Great team game, very happy to be back playing at home… and thank you for the affection of the fans!
“Now it’s time to recover. We’re still firm and strong.”
Neymar joined Al Hilal in 2023 from Paris Saint-Germain for a fee that could yet rise to £86million.
He is also earning a cool £138million-per-year, the third highest salary behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema.
The 2015 Champions League winner has played just seven games for the Saudi Pro League club, though.
In that time he’s scored one goal and bagged three assists across 428 minutes, with the three assists coming in his opening three Saudi Pro League appearances.
