Champions Al-Ittihad host Al-Hilal in first Classico of the Saudi Pro League season

01.09.2023 - 08:21 arabnews.com

The new Roshn Saudi League season is slowly getting into gear and, with world class talent on display and the planet watching, it seems as if every game is a massive one.

Yet Friday’s Saudi “Classico” between Al-Ittihad and Al-Hilal is a genuinely huge game, the biggest of the campaign so far. It also offers both teams an opportunity to extract a measure of revenge.

For the champions Al-Ittihad, there is a chance to show they can beat the most successful club in the history of Saudi Arabia and Asia.

However, Al-Hilal are seemingly becoming a bogey team for the champions. In the last four league meetings between the two, the Tigers have collected just a single point.

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Al-Ittihad returned to the Asian Champions League for the first time since 2019 in style with a 3-0 win over AGMK of Uzbekistan on Monday to go top of Group C. A first-half blitz from the Jeddah giants in front of an appreciative home crowd ensured that the result was never really in doubt.

Jota sees ultimate Celtic exit nightmare come true as Ittihad star 'bombed OUT' of Saudi Pro League squad

Jota has been excluded from Al-Ittihad's Saudi Pro League squad just two months after joining from Celtic, according to reports.

Karim Benzema inspires Al Ittihad to narrow Saudi Pro League victory - in pictures

Reigning Saudi Pro League champions Al Ittihad looked set to drop more points in their title defence until captain Karim Benzema came up trumps with a second-half winner against battling Al Okhdood on Thursday night.

Al-Ittihad’s Karim Benzema misses Monday’s training session

RIYADH: French striker Karim Benzema, who captains Saudi football club Al-Ittihad, missed Monday’s training session due to the vacation granted to players during the international break. According to a media statement issued on Tuesday, Al-Ittihad resumed training after the vacation granted to the club’s international players by their Portuguese coach Nuno Santo during the break of the Saudi Professional League that coincided with FIFA days. Benzema is expected to join his teammates for Tuesday night training. Player Abdulrahman Al-Oubud, who only participated in the morning session, also missed the evening group training. Ranked third in the SPL behind leaders Al-Hilal and second-placed Al-Taawoun with 12 points, Al-Ittihad are preparing to face Al-Okhdood on Thursday in the match that brings them together in SPL’s sixth round, at Prince Hathloul bin Abdulaziz Sports City Stadium in Najran. Coach Santo is looking forward to the last two sessions ahead of the match to find the optimal lineup that will face Al-Okhdoud, in light of the confirmed absence of his compatriot Jota and Brazilian player Cornado due to injury. Al-Ittihad collected 12 points after winning four out of their five matches with only one home defeat against Al-Hilal in the previous round.

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Midnight on Thursday, September 7, marked the end of the most memorable transfer window in the history of not just Saudi, but Arab and Asian football. In the space of just a few weeks the Saudi Pro League (SPL) jumped from being a regional competition on the periphery of the global sport to the single most discussed league in the world.