Hat-trick hero Roberto Firmino gets Al Ahli Saudi Pro League season off to dream start

So, after a summer spent seemingly at the epicentre of the football world, beginning with Benzema and maintained with imaginings of Messi and Mbappe, the actual football.

As it turned out, and just as the investors envisaged, it was worth the wait. The New Era Saudi Pro League whirred into action on a still-stifling Friday night in Jeddah, when an Al Ahli side captained by Roberto Firmino and boasting another batch of similarly star-studded summer arrivals kicked off the 2023/24 season.

Firmino, with his collection of major trophies captured with peak-Klopp Liverpool, captained Al Ahli for their return to the top-flight following a solitary campaign outside it, Al Hazem playing the adversary in enemy territory.

They too are newly promoted, but have not been bankrolled this summer by the country’s Public Investment Fund.

It certainly told, initially at least. On the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium pitch, Riyad Mahrez was stationed to Firmino’s right, fresh from his move last month from Manchester City. To the Brazilian’s left, Allan Saint-Maximin, the invigorating-if-not-inconsistent former Newcastle United winger.

The goal that sealed Firmino's hat-trick