Despite all the PR and marketing consultants hired by Saudi Arabia, the Saudi “Clasico”, which featured Al-Ittihad and Al-Hilal, was not, for some reason, rebranded ‘Al Clasico’. Nevertheless, the 1 September clash was quite the way to sign off for the international break. Al-Ittihad, hosts, champions and the so-called people’s club from the Red Sea port of Jeddah, faced Riyadh royalty and took a 3-1 lead only to lose 4-3.
There was international interest, which was expected given the raft of big-name signings made in the summer, and more quality, which, again, was hardly a surprise. Al-Ittihad, who conceded only 13 goals under Nuno Espírito Santo last season, were cruising before conceding three goals in the space of 11 second-half minutes, with Al-Hilal’s Aleksandar Mitrovic scoring an impressive hat-trick as the blue-shirted away fans did the Poznan. This has always been one of Asia’s biggest games but there was a real heft to it this time.
