Saudi football season opens with Super Cup without major deals | Sports

ByAugusto Kilone

13/8/2024–|Last update: 8/13/202410:34 PM (Makkah Time)

The new Saudi football season opens with the local Super Cup, with the participation of Al-Hilal, the champion of the Professional League and the Cup, and the runner-up in both tournaments, Al-Nasr, without the major clubs making huge deals as happened last summer.

For the first time since 2018, the season will start with the local Super Cup, with the participation of four teams, after playing in the middle of the season in previous years.

The excitement began early on Tuesday with the victory of (last season's champion at the expense of Al-Ittihad) over its rival Al-Ahly, third in the league last season, 4-1 on penalties after the match ended in a 1-1 draw.

On Wednesday, Al-Nassr, led by top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo who is looking for his first title in Saudi Arabia, will play against Al-Taawoun, who came fourth in the league last season.

Quiet season

The teams will play in the local Super Cup matches with almost the same line-ups as last season, after not signing any new players in the current summer transfer period, unlike what happened last year when Saudi teams spent millions of dollars to sign a group of prominent stars such as Neymar, who joined Al-Hilal, and Sadio Mane, the Al-Nassr striker.

But Saudi teams are experiencing a quiet transfer season, with Al-Nassr content with signing Brazilian goalkeeper Pinto.

Re-domination

Coach Jorge Jesus is looking forward to restoring Al Hilal's dominance in local tournaments and repeating what it did last season, and he will not find a better start than winning the local Super Cup to confirm the strength of his team even without signing new players.

“The responsibility that falls on us is greater this season and we will defend all the titles that we won last season,” Jesus said in a press conference on Monday.

Al Hilal will miss the efforts of striker Malcom as he has not recovered from his injury.

For his part, coach Matthias Jaissle is looking for his first title with Al-Ahly after leading the team to third place last season after returning to the Premier League.

Al-Ahly fans were aiming to win the cup last season, but they were disappointed after a surprising loss to Abha in the round of sixteen, leaving the team's trophy cabinet empty since 2016.

Ronaldo is waiting

Ronaldo was crowned the league's top scorer in his first full season in Saudi Arabia but is still waiting to win his first title with Al Nassr and hopes to see the beginning of the end of this wait when he faces Al Taawoun, who moved ahead of Al Ittihad in the standings last season to snatch their place in the last four and reach the AFC Champions League 2.

Ronaldo aims to continue scoring against his rival after scoring against him for the first time in the 19th round of last season and only making two assists in the first two matches against Al-Taawoun.

Luis Castro's situation will not be much different from Ronaldo's, and he does not want to feel frustrated again after losing all the titles last season in favor of coach Jesus.

But Castro and his team's ambition will clash with coach Rodolfo Arruabarrena, who is ready for a great start with Al-Taawoun.

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