Fierce Showdown Awaits as Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli Clash in AFC Champions League Elite Semi-Final
All eyes will turn to King Abdullah Sports City (Al-Jawhara Stadium) in Jeddah on Tuesday evening, as Saudi giants Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli lock horns once again in a thrilling all-Saudi encounter in the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League Elite — marking their fourth meeting this season.
Al-Ahli enter the match in high spirits after cruising past Thailand’s Buriram United with a 3-0 win in the quarter-finals. Meanwhile, Al-Hilal demonstrated their formidable attacking prowess with a stunning 7-0 demolition of South Korea’s Guangzhou FC.
The winner of this highly anticipated showdown will advance to the final, where they will meet the victor of the other semi-final between Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr and Japan’s Kawasaki Frontale, scheduled for Wednesday.
Head-to-head encounters this season have been evenly matched. Al-Hilal won the Saudi Super Cup semi-final on penalties after a 1-1 draw. In the league, the sides traded victories — Al-Hilal edged the first leg 2-1, while Al-Ahli claimed the return leg 3-2.
Historically, the teams have met only once in the AFC Champions League, back in 2019’s Round of 16, where Al-Hilal advanced to the quarter-finals with a 4-3 aggregate victory (4-2 win in the first leg, 1-0 loss in the second).
Al-Ahli’s star Ezgjan Alioski expressed great confidence ahead of the clash, saying the team believes in its abilities and will give everything to overcome Al-Hilal. Brazilian striker Roberto Firmino added, “Winning the AFC Champions League is one of my dreams. I will give everything to achieve it,” referencing his previous Champions League success with Liverpool and teammate Riyad Mahrez’s triumph with Manchester City.
Head coach Matthias Jaissle acknowledged the physical challenge his squad faces with just two days of recovery but affirmed that they would prepare a solid game plan to secure the win.
On the other side, Al-Hilal manager Jorge Jesus is under increased pressure to reach the final and redeem a season marked by a quarter-final exit from the King’s Cup and trailing league leaders Al-Ittihad by six points with five rounds remaining. “Al-Ahli may have more foreign players than us, but harmony and understanding are what really count,” said Jesus in a press conference.
Al-Hilal will be without Portuguese right-back João Cancelo due to injury sustained in the last match, but they still boast a star-studded squad featuring goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, defender Kalidou Koulibaly, Serbian duo Sergej Milinković-Savić and Aleksandar Mitrović, Brazilian forward Malcom, and local stalwarts Salem Al-Dawsari and Mohamed Kanno.
Tuesday’s clash promises to be a high-stakes battle between two of Asia’s most talented teams — a showdown that could very well be a final in its own right.
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