Earlier this year, Al-Ahli beat Al-Hazem 1-0 in the Saudi Arabian second tier. The game went unnoticed by the rest of the world. It’s a different story now.
On Friday, these two promoted teams kicked off the new Saudi Pro League season in front of an international audience after a summer dominated by big-name signings and huge bids for Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe.
They may have been unsuccessful in landing that superstar duo but much has changed – including the number of teams from 16 to 18 – in a league that is now attracting worldwide attention, and which will be shown in the UK by streaming platform DAZN.
The league has shaken up the global game this summer with its mass recruitment drive. For those that are new to it all, here are the big talking points for the season ahead.
The title race
Al-Ahli are one of the ‘Big Four’, along with Al-Ittihad, Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr, who were all taken over in June by the same Public Investment Fund (PIF) that owns Newcastle United.
Big signings followed with Roberto Firmino, Riyad Mahrez, Edouard Mendy and Allen Saint-Maximin joining the three-time champions from the Premier League’s top teams.
Al-Ahli, the only big four team without Asian Champions League commitments this season, have plenty of talent, but it will be far from easy to take the title from their Jeddah rivals Al-Ittihad.
The Tigers were the best-supported club last season with an average of more than 40,000. Under manager Nuno Espirito Santo, they conceded just 13 goals in 30 games while scoring 60. Nuno is still the manager and now has Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante, Jota and Fabinho to call upon.
The biggest problem for the former Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers boss may be keeping them all happy. Already there are rumours that last season’s top scorer Abderrazak Hamdallah is unhappy at playing second fiddle to Benzema.
Runners-up Al-Nassr started the influx of talent with the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo but have since attracted more top talent to Riyadh. Sadio Mane joined from Bayern Munich, Marcelo Brozovic, last seen captaining Inter Milan in the Champions League final, is another major signing along with Seko Fofana from Lens and Manchester United’s Alex Telles.
Al-Hilal finished third partly because they were competing on so many fronts: reaching the finals of the Asian Champions League and the Club World Cup and winning the King’s Cup. The most successful team in Saudi Arabia with 18 domestic titles have appointed Jorge Jesus for a second spell in charge and have added Kalidou Kalibaly from Chelsea, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic from Lazio and former Wolves captain Ruben Neves, with the Portuguese midfielder already showing his creative talents in pre-season.
This is added to a team already full of Saudi internationals who helped beat Argentina in the group stage at last year’s World Cup, such as Salem Al-Dawsari, Mohamed Kanno and Yasser Al-Shahrani. Hilal have a knack of bouncing back and finding ways to win.
Al-Shabab are six-time champions but have not been taken over by PIF. Now ‘The Youth’ have a point to prove, albeit without the kind of financial backing that their rivals have.
There will also be much interest in Ettifaq with Steven Gerrard trying to resurrect his coaching career in the eastern city of Dammam after being sacked by Aston Villa last year. Signing Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson was a major statement. Ettifaq were a little lucky to finish in seventh last season and struggled to score. Moussa Dembele should help with that. A top-six finish and a King’s Cup run would be a success.
Local goalkeepers and strikers
Every club bar one started last season with a foreigner in goal. This season will be similar, raising questions about the prospects for homegrown goalkeepers.
Al-Hilal’s number one is Abdullah Al-Mayouf, who didn’t play at the World Cup, though his club understudy Mohamed Al-Owais did.
At Al-Nassr, Nawaf Al-Aqidi came in for the injured David Ospina, formerly of Arsenal, and looked solid. The national team coach, whoever comes in following Herve Renard’s exit in March, will hope those two play regularly.
The new coach will have similar concerns up the pitch with more attacking talent coming from overseas, leaving little room for locals.
Abdullah Al-Hamdan was the next big hope when he joined Al-Hilal in 2021 but the 23-year-old has had little playing time and that looks likely to be the case once again.
Keep an eye on Firas Al-Buraikan. He had the same problem but left Al-Nassr for Al-Fateh two years ago and scored 17 goals last season, the fourth-highest total in the league; he was the only Saudi name in the top 10.
‘El Clasico’
When the ‘big four’ face each other there are fireworks on and off the pitch and world-class tifos.
There is debate as to which is the biggest game.
‘The El Clasico’ between Hilal in the capital Riyadh and Ittihad, in the Red Sea port of Jeddah, has grown into a huge occasion. The big city derbies – in Riyadh between Hilal and Nassr, and in Jeddah between Ittihad and Ahli – are also traditionally massive.
Attendances and atmospheres in the smaller grounds around the country are often nothing special but perhaps that will change.
Managerial changes?
“We certainly have a world-class coach represented by the English legend Steven Gerrard and distinguished players, and therefore all international and internal eyes will be directed at us,” new Ettifaq president Samer Al-Mishal said in July. “We must protect the club’s reputation.”
Traditionally in Saudi Arabia, managers have come and gone at a rapid rate at clubs big and small, with Ettifaq making more than 30 changes since the turn of the century.
Three or four winless games usually brings pressure and speculation. Ettifaq firing a coach last season made few waves outside Dammam but now the rest of the world will be watching and debating. Will clubs be as ruthless with international attention?
There are plenty of yellow Ronaldo shirts on sale in Portugal but he is not the only reason why fans and media there will be tuning in from there.
There are six Portuguese managers in charge, including at the top three teams from last season. Nuno has been joined by Jorge Jesus at Al-Hilal and Luis Castro at Al-Nassr. The pressure is on all three.