Neymar Set to Play in India as Mumbai City FC Drawn With Al Hilal for AFC Champions League

Brazilian superstar Neymar could potentially play in India after his club Al Hilal (Saudi Pro League) was drawn alongside Mumbai City FC in Group D of the 2023-24 AFC Champions League. Mumbai will also have FC Nassaji Mazandaran and PFC Navbahor Namangan for company after the draw conducted by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.

Al Hilal is the most successful club in the history of the tournament having won four titles thus far.

Mumbai City qualified for the group stage of Asia’s premier club competition for the second successive season after winning the 2022–23 Indian Super League Shield and the subsequent Club Play-off against Jamshedpur FC.

Mumbai will be playing their home games of the tournament  at Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune since their regular home venue at Andheri Sports Complex didn’t meet the standards required to host an AFC Champions League fixture.

A final schedule for the group stage, set to get underway from September 18, is yet to be announced.

Al Hilal SFC, record four-time AFC Champions League Winners and finalists in four of the last six seasons, will present the biggest test for the Islanders; they recently signed Neymar Jr, who had previously won prestigious tournaments like the UEFA Champions League and gold in the 2016 Olympics.

Besides Neymar, Al Hilal also have the likes of Ruben Neves, Kalidou Koulibaly in their squad.

FC Nassaji Mazandaran, winners of Iran’s 2021-22 Hazfi Cup, and PFC Navbahor Namangan, runners-up of the 2022 Uzbekistan Super League, will be making their AFC Champions League debut.

Matches will be played on a home-and-away round-robin basis, with the group winners and three best runners-up across all five west zone groups qualifying for the Round of 16.

Des Buckingham’s side had an impressive outing in the AFC Champions League last season, registering two wins over Iraq’s Al Quwa Al Jawiya to finish Group B in second place with seven points. Mumbai City will hope for more of the same this season, with an added advantage of playing on Indian soil