Lionel Messi posts message for Neymar after Brazilian is ruled out with ACL injury
Lionel Messi has reacted to his former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) teammate Neymar going down with an ACL injury.
The Al-Hilal attacker sustained the potentially season-ending injury to his left knee during Brazil's 2-0 FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifier loss at Uruguay on Tuesday (October 17).
Neymar, 31, tripped following a challenge in the 44th minute of the clash at the Centenario Stadium. Unable to continue, Brazil's all-time top scorer was stretchered off the field and was replaced by Richarlison.
Team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar had said in the immediate aftermath (as per ESPN):
"These 24 hours will be important to see how the knee will respond, how will be the swelling. Imaging tests that will define a definitive diagnosis. It's too early to say (if it's a ligament injury). Let's wait for the exams calmly, evaluate calmly, and as soon as we have a definition, we will let you know."
The BBC has now reported that the forward ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus of his left knee. Neymar will have surgery to address the issue and potentially faces months on the sidelines, effectively ruling him out for the season.
Neymar's former club teammate Messi reacted to the development on Instagram story with the caption (as translated from Spanish) alongside a photo of the duo:
"A lot of strength"
Here's the screenshot of the Inter Miami attacker's Instagram story:
Neymar had only recently recovered from an ankle injury sustained during Brazil's 2022 FIFA World Cup campaign in Qatar, which had sidelined him for a while.
A look at Lionel Messi and Neymar's joint goal contributions
Lionel Messi and Neymar have played six seasons together with two different clubs. After four glorious campaigns at Barcelona from 2013-14 to 2016-17, the duo reunited at PSG for two more seasons (2021-22 and 2022-23).
In 206 games together, the duo had 67 joint goal contributions, with Neymar assisting 40 Messi goals and the Argentine doing so on 27 occasions for the latter. Unsurprisingly, most of these joint goal contributions (56) happened while they were at Barcelona.
The duo did win two Ligue 1 titles at PSG but enjoyed far greater success at the Camp Nou: the continental treble in 2014-15, three La Liga and three Copa del Rey titles, among others.