Neymar could play in India after Al Hilal gets drawn with Mumbai City FC in AFC Champions League group stage

Mumbai City FC players will get a taste of playing againstBrazilian superstar Neymar in the upcoming AFC Champions League season after the Indian Super League ISL team was clubbed with Saudi Arabias Al Hilal in the group stage of the continental club showpieceAl Hilal the thirdplace finishers in the 202223 Saudi Pro League had recently signed Neymar a former Barcelona FC with whom he won UEFA Champions League title and Paris Saint German playerNeymars new Saudi club is also the most successful team in the AFC Champions League history having won the title four times besides being runnersup on five occasions ACL TheIslanders have been drawn into Group D along with Al Hilal Nassaji Mazandaran and Navbahor in TheAFCCL Group Stage IslandersInAsia AamchiCity pictwittercomUnxat2vDF6mdash Mumbai City FC MumbaiCityFC August 24 2023Al Hilal have bolstered their squad for the upcoming season with some bigname signings including Neymar Jr Kalidou Koulibaly Ruben Neves Sergej MilinkovicSavic Yassine Bounou and Aleksandar MitrovicThe group stage of the AFC Champions League is a homeandaway affair and thus it will be interesting to see if Neymar is seen in action at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune Mumbai City FCs home venue If Neymar travels to Pune it would be an opportunity of a lifetime for Indian fans to catch a glimpse of him playing in the countryFC Nassaji Mazandaran of Iran and PFC Navbahor Namangan of Uzbekistan are the other two sides in Group DThe draw of AFC Champions League 202324 group stage was held at the Asian Football Confederation headquarters in Kuala Lumpur on ThursdayMumbai City FC made it to the AFC Champions League group stage for the second straight season following their League Shield win during the ISL 202223 and the subsequent playoff versus Jamshedpur FCAlso Read Unraveling mega deals and dilemmas Kylian Mbappe and the Saudi Arabia offerMeanwhile Cristiano Roanldos Saudi side Al Nassr were drawn with Persepolis FC of Iran Al Duhail SC of Qatar and FC Istiklol of Tajikistan in Group EThat moment when TheIslanders were drawn out at the ACL as part of Group D IslandersInAsia AamchiCity TheAFCCL pictwittercomYJq5nSfMo9mdash Mumbai City FC MumbaiCityFC August 24 2023The 10 group winners along with the three best runnersup across the five West Zone groups will make it to the round of 16Last season Mumbai City FC scripted a couple of victories over Al Quwa Al Jawiya of Iraq finishing in second place in Group B with seven pointsFrom next season onwards no Indian club will get a direct entry into Asias toptier club competition as a result of a revamp in the competition structure the Asian Football Confederation has said earlierIn the secondtier AFC Cup draw Indian clubs Odisha FC and Mohun Bagan Super Giant have been clubbed with Bashundhara Kings of Bangladesh and Maziya SampRC of MaldivesOdisha made it to the competition by virtue of winning Super Cup 2023 followed by a playoff triumph over Gokulam KeralaMohun Bagan the ISL 202223 champions won the playoff versus Hyderabad FC They then beat Nepals Machhindra FC in Preliminary Round 2 before winning against Bangladeshs Abahani Limited Dhaka in the playoffThe AFC Cup match format for the group stage remains the same as the ACL with the group winners heading into the interzone playoff semifinalsWhile Odisha will play their home games at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar Mohun Bagan will have Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan as their baseWith agency inputs