The new Saudi football season may have begun this week with new hope and promise, but it has been a familiar story for fans in the Kingdom. Reigning domestic-treble winner Al Hilal and its closest challenger from 2023-24, Al Nassr, both won their matches to book a place in the campaign’s curtain raiser – the Saudi Super Cup final – in Abha.
The two sides – head and shoulders above all others in the Kingdom last season – have met on six occasions over the past 12 months; on Saturday night, they will face off in a seventh. Both teams came through potentially tricky semifinals, with Al Hilal now seeking a record-extending fifth Saudi Super Cup triumph while Al Nassr is looking to grab its third win.
After returning to its traditional position at the start of the season for the first time in six years, the Saudi Super Cup final offers not only a first shot at silverware in 2024-25 but the opportunity to set a benchmark and land an early psychological blow – particularly important given Al Hilal and Al Nassr are clear favorites again for the Saudi Pro League title.
For Al Nassr, it feels there is a greater imperative to claim victory as Luis Castro’s side is winless in the last five meetings between the teams. Al Hilal claimed derby bragging rights in the league last December, before drawing the return fixture late in the season. Jorge Jesus’ team also knocked its opponent out of the Saudi Super Cup, as well as claiming a mid-season friendly win and – most painfully of all for Al Nassr – edging a King’s Cup final penalty shootout in May.
That was the pair’s most recent match and for the neutral supporter it was a rip-roaring, rollercoaster of a final. Al Hilal took an early lead through Aleksandar Mitrovic but Al Nassr stayed within touching distance – even after goalkeeper David Ospina was sent off in the 56th minute.
Al Hilal defenders Ali Al-Bulayhi and Kalidou Koulibaly then both saw red in the game’s final minutes as Ayman Yahya snatched a late equalizer for Al Nassr, who pushed hard for a winner.
But Al Hilal’s nine men successfully staved off the threat of Cristiano Ronaldo and Co, eventually winning on penalties after Meshari Al-Nemer’s sudden death miss.
