Excitement awaits on Tuesday evening when Al-Ittihad Jeddah meets its guest Al-Hilal at King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Stadium in Jeddah, “the Radiant Jewel”, in the first semi-final match of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup, which on Wednesday witnesses the second confrontation between Al-Nasr and Al-Khaleej.
The awaited point of excitement emerges from the history of the confrontations and results of the two teams’ matches during this season, as Al-Hilal recorded complete control over 6 matches that ended in blue without the “Dean” being able to change any result.
The beginning of Al Hilal’s dominance was in August 2023 when it won 3-1 in the quarter-finals of the King Salman Cup “Arab Clubs”, then it continued with its exciting victory in the first leg of the league 4-3 after Al-Ittihad was in the lead 3-1 until the end of the first half, and in the second round Al Hilal won. Also 3-1, before “Al-Zaeem” returned to win the two AFC Champions League quarter-final matches with the same score, 2-0, back and forth, and “Al-Zaeem” concluded its terrifying numbers by winning the Super Cup final 4-1.
Al-Ittihad’s suffering this season continues against the competing teams, but it is in a difficult situation against Al-Hilal, which came out with easy victories in the past six matches, which raises the broad question: Can the Argentine coach of Al-Ittihad, Gallardo, put an end to the superiority of the capital team and its Portuguese coach Jesus, who is now enjoying the matches in which he faces his Argentine counterpart. Where he won it in 5 matches, including the famous final of the Tadrues Libre Cup 2019, when he led Flamengo to victory over River Plate 2-1?
Looking at the situation and numbers of the two teams before the match, we find Al Hilal leading the league with 80 points without losing after 28 matches, two of which were tied. The team in total has only lost one match in the season at the hands of Al Ain of the Emirates in the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League with a score of 4-2, and has “Al-Zaeem” has an almost certain chance of winning the league, based on the point difference between it and its chaser, Al-Nasr, of nine points.
The Portuguese team, Jesus, has a powerful attacking force that succeeded in scoring 86 goals, and solid defense and guarding that made the team accept only 18 goals at the league level. On the other hand, Al-Ittihad, the defending champion of the league, ranks fifth with 50 points, scoring 55 goals against 40 own goals, and the team after its exit. From the AFC Champions League and the loss of the Super Cup, he only has the cup left to save his season.
Technically and physically, Al-Hilal will bring to the match most of its stars, including Serbian Mitrovic and Brazilian Malcolm, who are returning from injury, and is missing only Salem Al-Dosari, who needs 4 weeks before returning. On the other hand, Al-Ittihad will be missing the services of Karim Benzema, who did not participate in any training before the match, and there There is speculation about the ability of the other Frenchman, Kante, to win the title, given his limited participation in the penultimate training, but Gallardo will bring back local players Faisal, Ahmed Al-Ghamdi, Zakaria Hawsawi, and Awad Al-Nashiri, who are returning from the Olympic team.
On paper, the odds go largely in favor of Al Hilal, unless Gallardo turns the tables and avenges the dean for the series of successive defeats against Al Azraq.