Neymar Jr. gets subbed off early after suffering yet another injury

In just his second game back after a 12-month break, Neymar sustained another injury on Monday when Saudi Arabia's Al-Hilal defeated Iran's Esteghlal 3-0 during the AFC Champions League Elite. After 58 minutes, the Brazilian, who just returned from an ACL tear, stepped off the bench in Riyadh. 

But with three minutes left, the 32-year-old forward had to be substituted out after appearing to pull up after extending his leg for the pass in the penalty area. However, since he is not registered in the team's Saudi Pro League games and the AFC competition's next encounter is on November 25, Neymar has a chance to recuperate before his next match.

Al-Hilal, the four-time Asian champion, has now won all four of their group stage matches thanks to a hat-trick from Aleksandar Mitrovic. The Serbian scored all three of his goals from close range. After 15 minutes, he took the lead, added another shortly after the half-hour mark, and finished his hat-trick with 16 minutes left.

With the top eight teams moving on towards the Round of 16, Al-Hilal continues to lead the 12-team group. Former Liverpool striker Roberto Firmino scored twice in the first half as the Jeddah team crushed Al-Shorta of Iraq 5-1, putting them ahead of Saudi Arabian rivals Al-Ahli on goal differential.

“I felt like I had cramps” : Neymar Jr. 

The former FC Barcelona forward later shared his emotions on Instagram by captioning a picture of himself. Neymar wrote, "I felt like I had cramps, but very strong ones! I will undergo tests and hope it's nothing serious. It's normal to experience this after a year. The doctors had already warned me, so I need to be careful and manage my playing time better."

Evidently agitated, Neymar threw down his boots and shin guards in an outburst of rage as he exited the field. The good news is that the injury that held him out of play for more than a year has nothing to do with the most recent discomfort.