Neymar back from injury after 370 days on the sideline

After 370 days on the sidelines, Neymar is finally back.  The 32-year-old made his return to competitive football for Al Hilal in the AFC Champions League on Monday, October 21.

He picked a remarkable game for it, too: the Saudi Arabian champions emerged 5-4 winners over Al Ain in a match that saw nine goals, two hat-tricks, a penalty and a red card.

"I feel good," Neymar said on the pitch afterwards. "I always have a good team. I'm so happy. I'm back! I'm back!"

Neymar has spent the past year recovering from knee surgery and admitted to feeling "butterflies" before his comeback. And that is hardly surprising: the severity of his injury, plus the fact he turns 33 next February, left many wondering whether his career could in fact have been drawn to a premature end. Little wonder, then, that fans were ecstatic to see him on a pitch again.

The Sporting News looks at how his comeback went, what happened to him a year ago, and when he might make his long-awaited return for the Brazil national team.

How did Neymar play on his comeback game?

Neymar returned in Al Hilal's AFC Champions League game away to Al Ain of the UAE. He replaced Nasser Al-Dawsari in the 77th minute of the match, two minutes after Salem Aldawsari had completed his hat-trick to give the Saudi champions a 5-3 lead.

A dramatic contest took a further twist shortly after his arrival, with Ali Albulayhi sent off in the 82nd minute for handball. Neymar almost struck a sixth goal for Al Hilal moments later, but his shot from inside the box went narrowly wide.

The Brazil star looked lively enough after such a long spell out of action, with one particularly slick move seeing his left-footed cross almost diverted in after a clever one-two.

In total, Neymar completed four out of five passes and one of two dribbles, although his involvement was limited due to Al Hilal being a man down for the majority of his time on the field.

Al Ain scored a late penalty, Soufiane Rahimi completing his hat-trick from the spot, but Al Hilal held on to win.