Why Neymar’s injury has caused tickets for the Mumbai City FC match. Twenty-two thousand spectators had pre-registered in five minutes to watch Mumbai City FC play Saudi Arabian powerhouse Al Hilal SFC in the Asian Champions League (ACL); Brazilian sensation Neymar was slated to be the match’s feature player.
That number exceeded 55,000 just 33 minutes after the pre-registration window began, which is unprecedented for a football match in Mumbai.
Time travel: on Saturday, a few days prior to kickoff. Out of the approximately 38,000 tickets available, just about 30,000 had been sold. Many of the people who bought the tickets in the higher range—and even the base range—want to sell them.
Supporters who purchased tickets from around the nation are still debating if it is worthwhile to travel.
In the first half of Brazil’s 2-0 loss to Uruguay in Montevideo last month, the 31-year-old had to be taken off on a stretcher. Brazil confirmed on Thursday that he had surgery to repair his ruptured meniscus and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee.
With the arrival of five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo among its high-profile signings, the Saudi Pro League stole the show this summer in the football world.
While the 38-year-old Portuguese player’s decision to join Saudi club Al-Nassr FC after splitting with Manchester United and being without a club was not particularly startling, Neymar’s move stunned the whole football community.
After breaking Pele’s record in September to become Brazil’s top goalscorer, Neymar was tempted away from PSG, where he had struggled to establish himself.
In addition to Ronaldo and Neymar, Saudi clubs also acquired players like Sadio Mane, Karim Benzema, Riyad Mahrez, N’Golo Kante, and Karim Benzema.
As a result, Indian football fans eagerly anticipated the August ACL draw to find out which international players will visit Mumbai. And the madness started when Mumbai City FC was placed in the same group as Neymar’s Al Hilal.
You would know who to look out for on Monday if you happened to watch Mumbai City’s 6-0 thrashing at the hands of Al Hilal in the road match last month – Aleksandar Mitrovic. The former Fulham and Newcastle player from Serbia scored an incredible hat-trick, with an incredible overhead bicycle kick for his third.
There’s just one person to look to for defense: Kalidou Koulibaly. The Senegalese, who joined Al Hilal this summer from Chelsea, has been a pillar of the team’s defense.
He has contributed significantly to the Saudi Arabian giants’ eight consecutive competitive clean sheet victories.
Though the Al-Hilal team certainly has skill, none of them compare to Neymar’s size and weirdness.
Even though he isn’t attending, it won’t be shocking to see his name on the backs of supporters who show up at the DY Patil Stadium on Monday, whether they are wearing the colors of Brazil, Barcelona, PSG, or Al Hilal.
Mumbai City, on the other hand, will be hoping that Neymar’s absence would provide them with the much-needed lift to their currently failing ACL campaign.
They would like to at least draw even with Al Hilal, having lost their first three games. Their lack of experience playing at DY Patil won’t necessarily be to their advantage.
