Returning after appearing with Brazil in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, striker Neymar quickly made his mark even though he only came on the field from the bench. He contributed an assist to Al-Hilal’s 6-1 victory over Al-Riyadh.

Entering the reception of Al-Riyadh in round 6 of the Saudi Pro League, coach Jorge Jesus launched Al-Hilal’s strongest squad with new players who moved in the 2023 summer transfer period such as Kalidou Koulibaly, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Ruben Neves, Malcolm and Aleksandar Mitrovic. Meanwhile, expensive striker Neymar was kept on the bench.

With a superior squad in terms of class, the home team soon took the initiative right from the first minute and throughout the first half. The overwhelming possession rate of 62% has undermined any hope of Al-Riyadh, who is in the bottom group of the table, getting points. After a lot of pressure, Al-Hilal got the opening goal in the 30th minute, when Mitrovic successfully took the 11m penalty kick.

With a goal to break the deadlock, Al-Hilal began his sublime performance. Although the away team played defensively, the strength and quality of the ‘millionaire’ team was shown in the 4th minute of injury time, when Milinkovic-Savic assisted defender Yasir Al Shahrani to double the gap.

In the second half, although Al-Hilal played dominantly, they could not penetrate the away team’s defense. In the 64th minute, coach Jesus made 3 changes, including blockbuster Neymar making his debut for the new team. In the 68th minute, rookie Malcom assisted a substitute, Nasser Al-Dawsari scored the third goal for the home team.

With a victory like a tennis set, Al-Hilal has now risen to the top of the Saudi Pro League rankings with 16 points after 6 rounds, 1 point more than second-place team Al-Ittihad and more than Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr (position Saturday) to 9 points.