Neymar scored an assist in his Saudi Pro League debut.
Al-Hilal thrashed Al Rayyan 6-1 in the sixth round of the 2023-2024 Saudi Professional League at Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday.
Neymar, a late signing who has been working on his fitness, made his debut. Neymar had been out of action for about half a year after suffering an injury while playing for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in February. He made an unofficial comeback in August when he started against Jeonbuk Hyundai in a friendly in Busan, South Korea. He didn’t play for PSG after that, as he had a falling out with the club and moved to Al-Hilal. Considering his age and star power, he was the biggest signing the Saudis made this summer.
Neymar hadn’t played in the previous five rounds, but he made his first appearance in Brazil’s two A-match series. On the 9th, he scored two goals in Brazil’s 5-1 win over Bolivia. This was followed by Alhilal’s debut on the 16th.
Aleksandar Mitrovic’s penalty kick opened the scoring for Al Hilal, which was followed by goals from Yasir Alshahrani and Nasser Aldosari. Neymar added an assist 19 minutes into the second half when he slipped a forward pass to Maicon on a breakaway. Al-Hilal then completed his hat-trick with two more goals, including a penalty kick, before Aldosari completed the rout. Aliyadh could only muster a late consolation goal from Ali Alzakan.
Al Hilal had been on a winning streak even without Neymar. They had won four in a row to extend their lead at the top of the table with five wins and one draw.
In addition to Mitrovic, Neymar, Maicon, and Michael in the attacking third, Alhilal had a star-studded roster of eight foreigners, including midfielders Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Hubeng Neves, defender Kalidou Koulibaly, and goalkeeper Yasin Bunu. No. 1 favorite. Jang Hyun-soo, a former Al-Hilal player who recently battled cancer, has been receiving offers from teams in other leagues, including Turkkiye, after being declared cured. 먹튀검증