{"id":289972,"date":"2023-09-08T09:36:16","date_gmt":"2023-09-08T09:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/?p=289972"},"modified":"2023-09-08T09:36:16","modified_gmt":"2023-09-08T09:36:16","slug":"neymar-suggests-saudi-pro-league-might-be-better-than-ligue-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/soccer\/neymar-suggests-saudi-pro-league-might-be-better-than-ligue-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Neymar suggests Saudi Pro League might be BETTER than Ligue 1"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Neymar battles back against &#8216;weak&#8217; Saudi Pro League jibes and suggests the division might be BETTER than Ligue 1 following a summer of superstar arrivals<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Neymar believes the Saudi Pro League is emerging as a competitive division<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The Brazilian left European football this summer for a move to the Middle East<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>He joined the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema in the nation\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Neymar\u00a0has suggested the Saudi Pro League is a better standard than Ligue 1 and stressed the high-profile names starring in the Middle East has developed newfound competitiveness in the rising division.<\/p>\n<p>The Brazilian became the league&#8217;s marquee summer arrival after leaving Paris Saint-Germain to join Al-Hilal in a \u00a378m deal that saw him cash-in on a career in European football.<\/p>\n<p>Neymar joined esteemed company in Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Sadio Mane, while former Man City star Riyad Mahrez and ex-Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson\u00a0similarly left England for Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking after reporting for international duty with Brazil, Neymar explained the quality of talent in the Saudi top-flight makes it a strong league to compete in.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I assure you that football there is the same. The ball is round, there is a goal. Because of the names that have gone to the Saudi league&#8230; I don&#8217;t know if it is better than the French one,&#8217; said Neymar.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/08\/08\/75202765-12495237-image-a-1_1694158837041.jpg\" height=\"502\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Neymar has hailed the competitiveness of the Saudi Pro League after making his move to the division<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/08\/08\/75202775-12495237-image-a-2_1694158844813.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The Brazilian (left) starred for PSG over six years but suggested the Saudi Pro League is more competitive than playing in France<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;The training pace is intense, the thirst to win is great. I want to win titles with Al-Hilal.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Nothing changes in my head. People say that the championship is not known, that it is weak&#8230; everyone said that when I went to the French championship and it was the place where I suffered the most in.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;It&#8217;s not going to be easy to win the Saudi championship because there are other teams that have gotten stronger, there are well-known players and I&#8217;m sure it&#8217;s going to be a very interesting league and that you&#8217;re going to see it,&#8217; said the Brazilian.<\/p>\n<p>Neymar starred in France for six years after arriving in Paris for a world-record \u00a3198m deal in 2017 from Barcelona and decided to call time on his career in the nation after approaches from Saudi Arabia were made.<\/p>\n<p>He still had four-years left on his contract at PSG but sought a new challenge in the Middle East and signed a two-year deal with Al-Hilal that is understood to be worth \u00a3130million a year.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/08\/09\/75203471-12495237-image-a-18_1694160163721.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Riyad Mahrez was one of the league&#8217;s biggest summer arrivals after leaving Treble-winners Man City for Saudi Arabia<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/08\/08\/75202799-12495237-Neymar_joined_several_big_names_in_the_Saudi_top_flight_that_fea-a-6_1694159174326.jpg\" height=\"431\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Neymar joins several big-names in the Saudi top-flight with Cristiano Ronaldo one of the most high-profile players(right)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/08\/08\/75202767-12495237-image-m-4_1694158887997.jpg\" height=\"513\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The Brazilian is still waiting to make his Al-Hilal debut as he continues to recover from an ankle injury<\/p>\n<p>However, his fresh start in new surroundings has been blighted by injury concerns that also plagued large parts of his PSG career.<\/p>\n<p>The 31-year-old is still waiting to make his debut as he recovers from an ankle injury that has side-lined him for the past six months, but was still selected for the Brazil national team.<\/p>\n<p>But, Al-Hilal have continued to star in his absence with Jorge Jesus&#8217; side top of the league standings and unbeaten in their opening five league games as former Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic continues to impress in attack.<\/p>\n<p>Neymar is expected to be fit to make his Saudi debut soon after admitting he was close to being available before the international break.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12495237\/neymar-saudi-pro-league-psg-al-hilal.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Neymar battles back against &#8216;weak&#8217; Saudi Pro League jibes and suggests the division might be BETTER than Ligue 1 following a summer of superstar arrivals Neymar believes the Saudi Pro League is emerging as a competitive division The Brazilian left European football&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":289971,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Neymar suggests Saudi Pro League might be BETTER than Ligue 1 - Sports-Life-News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/soccer\/neymar-suggests-saudi-pro-league-might-be-better-than-ligue-1\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Neymar suggests Saudi Pro League might be BETTER than Ligue 1 - Sports-Life-News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Neymar battles back against &#8216;weak&#8217; Saudi Pro League jibes and suggests the division might be BETTER than Ligue 1 following a summer of superstar arrivals Neymar believes the Saudi Pro League is emerging as a competitive division The Brazilian left European football...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/soccer\/neymar-suggests-saudi-pro-league-might-be-better-than-ligue-1\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sports-Life-News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-08T09:36:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mediabest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Neymar-suggests-Saudi-Pro-League-might-be-BETTER-than-Ligue-1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"mediabest\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/soccer\/neymar-suggests-saudi-pro-league-might-be-better-than-ligue-1\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/soccer\/neymar-suggests-saudi-pro-league-might-be-better-than-ligue-1\/\",\"name\":\"Neymar suggests Saudi Pro League might be BETTER than Ligue 1 - Sports-Life-News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-08T09:36:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-08T09:36:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/soccer\/neymar-suggests-saudi-pro-league-might-be-better-than-ligue-1\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/soccer\/neymar-suggests-saudi-pro-league-might-be-better-than-ligue-1\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/soccer\/neymar-suggests-saudi-pro-league-might-be-better-than-ligue-1\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Soccer\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/category\/soccer\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Neymar suggests Saudi Pro League might be BETTER than Ligue 1\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/\",\"name\":\"Sports-Life-News\",\"description\":\"sports-life-news.com\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609\",\"name\":\"mediabest\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"mediabest\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Neymar suggests Saudi Pro League might be BETTER than Ligue 1 - Sports-Life-News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/soccer\/neymar-suggests-saudi-pro-league-might-be-better-than-ligue-1\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Neymar suggests Saudi Pro League might be BETTER than Ligue 1 - Sports-Life-News","og_description":"Neymar battles back against &#8216;weak&#8217; Saudi Pro League jibes and suggests the division might be BETTER than Ligue 1 following a summer of superstar arrivals Neymar believes the Saudi Pro League is emerging as a competitive division The Brazilian left European football...","og_url":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/soccer\/neymar-suggests-saudi-pro-league-might-be-better-than-ligue-1\/","og_site_name":"Sports-Life-News","article_published_time":"2023-09-08T09:36:16+00:00","author":"mediabest","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Neymar-suggests-Saudi-Pro-League-might-be-BETTER-than-Ligue-1.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"mediabest","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/soccer\/neymar-suggests-saudi-pro-league-might-be-better-than-ligue-1\/","url":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/soccer\/neymar-suggests-saudi-pro-league-might-be-better-than-ligue-1\/","name":"Neymar suggests Saudi Pro League might be BETTER than Ligue 1 - Sports-Life-News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-09-08T09:36:16+00:00","dateModified":"2023-09-08T09:36:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/soccer\/neymar-suggests-saudi-pro-league-might-be-better-than-ligue-1\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/soccer\/neymar-suggests-saudi-pro-league-might-be-better-than-ligue-1\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/soccer\/neymar-suggests-saudi-pro-league-might-be-better-than-ligue-1\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Soccer","item":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/category\/soccer\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Neymar suggests Saudi Pro League might be BETTER than Ligue 1"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/","name":"Sports-Life-News","description":"sports-life-news.com","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609","name":"mediabest","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"mediabest"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289972"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=289972"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289972\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/289971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=289972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=289972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=289972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}