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SEOUL: Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said on Saturday that the Saudi Pro League had “completely changed the market” and he expects more and more high-profile players to move there. City winger Riyad Mahrez this week became just the latest big name to move to Saudi football, following in the footsteps of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and numerous others from Europe’s top leagues.
TOKYO: A Bayern Munich side missing the departing Sadio Mane beat Kawasaki Frontale 1-0 on Saturday with a goal by substitute Josip Stanisic in the second game of their Japan tour. Forward Mane was left out of the squad for the friendly, with the German champions saying on Twitter that he was in talks with another club “and is therefore not in the line-up today.” The 31-year-old former Liverpool star appears set to become the latest high-profile player to join the Saudi league with a move to Al Nassr, according to several media outlets.
RIYADH: Egypt’s Zamalek impressed in the opening game of their King Salman Club Cup campaign with a victory over Monastir, as Raja and Al-Wehda also picked up wins. Two goals from Sayed Abdullah helped Zamalek crush Tunisia’s Monastir 4-0, sending them to the top of Group C with three points, after Riyadh rivals Al-Nassr and Al-Shabab played out a goalless draw.
JEDDAH: Algerian winger Riyad Mahrez, who joined Al-Ahli from Manchester United, took part in his first training session with the team in Austria on Friday. Performing an honorary corridor, Ahli players enthusiastically welcomed their newest member. The 32-year-old was a key figure in Leicester City’s Premier League title in 2016. He subsequently won the league four more times with Manchester City and a Champions League title, too. He scored 15 games from 47 matches for the Blues last season.
PARIS: Saudi side Al-Ahli on Friday named Matthias Jaissle as their new coach, the young German moving from Austrian champions RB Salzburg. The 35-year-old, regarded as one of the most promising managers of his generation, joins the posse of high profile players like Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema lured to the Saudi Pro League by enormous pay cheques.
There can’t have ever been a substitute bench in Saudi Arabian football with the collective talent of Cristiano Ronaldo, Seko Fofana, Anderson Talisca, Alex Telles and Abdulrahman Ghareeb but there they were sat on Friday as Al-Nassr drew 0-0 with Al-Shahab in their opening game of the King Salman Club Cup. The result means that both sides from Riyadh are still very much in this 16-team tournament, known in the past as the Arab Club Champions Cup, but the team in yellow will surely be more satisfied given the team that started the game in the south-western city of Abha.
Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium: Carlos Sainz topped the times for Ferrari but Formula One was left facing a problematic challenge on Friday as heavy rain curtailed the only free practice session for the Belgian Grand Prix. The Spanish driver clocked a best lap time of two minutes and 3.207 seconds to finish ahead of the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris with Charles Leclerc fourth for Ferrari.
GENEVA: Juventus were removed from European competition next season and Chelsea were fined $11 million in separate UEFA rulings over financial rules breaches on Friday. The expulsion of Juventus from the third-tier Europa Conference League was expected because of a false accounting case that already saw the two-time European champion deducted 10 points in Serie A. That penalty dropped Juventus out of Champions League qualification places.