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Fans roasted Neymar's Al-Hilal on X (formerly Twitter) after the Saudi Pro League side had to settle for a 1-1 draw against Navbahor Namangan in the AFC Champions League.
Al-Hilal have been placed in Group D of the 2023-24 AFC Champions League alongside Navbahor, Nassaji Mazandaran, and Mumbai City FC. They kicked off their campaign against Uzbek side Navbahor at the Kind Fahd Stadium on Monday, September 18.
Jorge Jesus named a formidable starting XI that featured the likes of Neymar, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Ruben Neves, and Malcom.
Al-Hilal dominated possession in the first half, however, Navbahor showed great resilience in defense to ensure the scores stayed level. The latter's Oston Uronov was particularly impressive in midfield, while Neymar struggled to make any sort of impact on his home debut.
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Navbahor took the lead in the 52nd minute, with Toma Tabatadze scoring from a brilliant counter-attack. Neymar was fortunate not to have received a straight red card a few minutes later after shoving and kicking the ball directly at Abror Ismailov.
Just when it appeared that Al-Hilal would lose 1-0, Ali Albulayhi headed the ball into the back of the net in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time to secure a 1-1 draw.
Neymar didn't have the best of outings on his second appearances for the Saudi outfit. The €90 million summer signing from Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) only completed 17% of his dribbles and completed four out of 11 attempted crosses.
Fans roasted both the Brazilian ace and Jorge Jesus' side on X. One fan wrote:
"Money can't buy passion.. They are just playing for the money"
Another wrote:
"PSG scammed Al Hilal"
The Saudi Pro League giants will next be back in action against Damac away from home on Thursday, September 21.
Al-Hilal vs Navbahor Namangan: Exploring the stats as Neymar and Co. are held to a frustrating draw
Al-Hilal were unable to find a win to kick off their AFC Champions League campaign despite fielding a strong side featuring former European stars. Let's take a look at the stats to see how both teams performed.
Jorge Jesus' men dominated possession with 77% of the ball. They also completed 651 passes with an accuracy of 90%. Navbahor only had 23% possession and completed just 205 passes with an accuracy of 63%.
The home team had 20 shots in total, with six being on target. However, they were largely unable to come together as a unit to unlock Navbahor's resilient defense. In contrast, the latter had just five shots with two on target.
