As Al-Hilal’s hopes of domestic success fade, attention turns to AFC Champions League final

It is always difficult for a winning machine like Al-Hilal to accept that the Saudi Arabian league title is beyond them but now it surely is and it is time to think about what the rest of the season will look like.

And that means turning attention to cup competitions, and primarily the AFC Champions League final at the end of the month.

Against Al-Tai on April 10, only victory would have done yet at half-time, Ramon Diaz’s men were two goals down. Even after coming back to draw 2-2 in the second half, there was a feeling as they left the pitch that there would be a new champion this season. Al-Tai boss Mirel Radoi, who won the title twice as a player with Al-Hilal, surely spoke for many in the country after the game when he said that he thought his old club’s hopes this season were over.

Even the most optimistic of Al-Hilal fans would find it hard to disagree.

The latest setback means that, with seven games of the season remaining, the gap behind leaders Al-Ittihad has grown to 10. This is not like last year when the Riyadh giants were 16 points adrift of their Jeddah rivals in February and then went on a title-winning run.

This time, they are still in fourth and still dropping points. The draw with Al-Tai followed a chastening 3-0 defeat against neighbors Al-Shabab three days earlier. The Al-Hilal of a year ago would not have lost such a game against such a rival in such a manner and even if they had, they would have bounced back with a vengeance in the next fixture. That has not happened this time and the spirit and energy is just not quite the same.

Those five points dropped in the space of three days have surely ended any hopes of what would be a sensational triumph. The fact that Al-Hilal are playing so often