ISL club Mumbai City FC will play Neymar’s Al Hilal on November 6 in AFC Champions League 2023/24 group stage match. On Thursday, The AFC Champions League Group Stage draw took place. ISL Shield winners Mumbai City and Saudi club Al Hilal, were drawn in Group D.
While the official fixtures are yet to be announced, reports have emerged that The Islanders will face Al Hilal at Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Pune on November 6.
Al Hilal recently made headlines after signing Brazilian superstar Neymar from Paris Saint-Germain in a staggering deal worth over $300 million for two years.
Neymar, who is widely regarded as one of the best players in the world, is expected to make his debut for Al Hilal in the AFC Champions League and likely to play in India when his team visits Pune for the away fixture against Mumbai City.
Al Hilal is a record four-time AFC Champions League Winners and have come out as runners up in four of the last six seasons. With stars like Neymar, Kalidou Koulibaly, Ruben Neves, Aleksander Mitrovic and others, the Saudi club will come as favourites.
Matches will be played on a home-and-away round-robin basis, with the group winners and three best teams across all five west zone groups qualifying for the Round of 16.
Notably, Mumbai City are making their second consecutive appearance in the tournament by finishing as the table-toppers in the Indian Super League 2022/23.
Besides Al Hilal, The Islanders will face Iran’s FC Nassaji Mazandaran and Uzbekistan’s Navbahor in Group D fixtures.
