Neymar has been afflicted by injury once again as he was forced to withdraw from a match on Monday night – just 29 minutes after coming on.

The Brazilian star was brought on after 58 minutes in Al-Hilal’s Asian Champions League win over Esteghlal but came off in the 87th after pulling up with a leg issue.

Neymar, 32, had only returned from a year-long ACL blow last month after requiring surgery on his left knee.

But after just his second appearance back, the £130million-per-year superstar complained of cramp, though he sought to play down the worry.

‘I felt like a cramp but very strong! I will do exams and hope it’s nothing more,’ he said on Instagram.

‘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.’

He later posted: ‘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.’

Four important words in all this are ‘the doctors warned me’ – this was not totally unexpected for Neymar, who has been easing himself back.

He has been left out of Brazil’s squad for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers against venezuela and Uruguay, with international boss Dorival Junior not wanting to overburden him.

‘We decided not to bring him so as not to rush things. He’s practically fully recovered, but he only had a few minutes, which weighed heavily on the decision,’ he said.

‘He was willing to be here but he also understood the situation, the condition he is in, the lack of minutes  on the field. We have to respect the club’s process.

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