Neymar's return to Vila Belmiro 12 years after beginning his journey to Europe when he signed with Barcelona sparked huge excitement across the country. However, it only took a few months for that excitement to begin turning into despair as fans watched Neymar leave the field injured during his 100th match with Santos.

Neymar celebrates 100 matches with Santos in tears

Let’s recall that at the beginning of March, Neymar had already suffered an injury that prevented him from playing in the Campeonato Paulista semifinals against Corinthians… and also ruined his return to the Brazilian national team. Now, after returning to action last weekend at the Maracanã against Fluminense, he lasted only 34 minutes on the pitch in the most recent match against Atlético Mineiro, current finalist of the Copa Libertadores.

With Pedro Caixinha no longer on the sidelines at Vila Belmiro, and while awaiting a new head coach after being turned down by Sampaoli, Neymar started for Santos to celebrate his 100th appearance. What was expected to be a celebration—marking Santos’s first win (2-0) since returning to the Brasileirao—turned into a nightmare as Neymar left the field in tears.

Neymar has been injured for 174 days this season

It’s worth noting that after reappearing against Fluminense last weekend following his first injury, Neymar insisted he was in top physical shape: "I want to play. Since I came back to Brazil, I’ve been 100% available. But I respect the coach, the medical staff, and we’ll see. I feel good today. I moved well.” However, he’s only been able to spend about 80 minutes on the field across both matches before getting injured again.

According to early reports, Neymar may have aggravated his most recent injury in his left thigh, and for now, there’s still no estimated recovery time for what is his fifth injury of the season—since coming back from a serious knee injury. A total of 174 days sidelined… and now he’s set to miss even more games, much to the growing frustration of the Santos fanbase.