BY JOHN DUERDEN
Cristiano Ronaldo is lining up for another Saudi Pro League season with the main aim of helping Al-Nassr end the dominance of Riyadh rival Al-Hilal.
Ronaldo signed for Al-Nassr in December 2022 and has yet to win a domestic trophy with the club. In a social media post this week, he wrote: New season, same goal.
Al-Hilal won the title last season with 31 wins and three draws, finishing 14 points clear of second-place Al-Nassr.
Hilal beat Ronaldo’s team 4-1 in the final of the Saudi Super Cup last weekend. The 18-team league kicks off its season on Thursday.
“I’m feeling a lot of apprehension because this season is going to be very difficult,” Al-Hilal defender Kalidou Koulibaly, who signed from Chelsea last year, told The Associated Press. “Last year, it was a tough championship, but we managed to come out on top. This year, all the teams will be gunning to beat Al Hilal.”
Last summer, a string of big-name stars arrived from Europe’s top leagues to join Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia. According to Deloitte’s Sports Business Group, a total of $957 million was spent. This summer has been comparatively quiet, although the transfer window remains open until Sept. 2.
For Al-Hilal, the return of Neymar will be like a new signing. The Brazilian superstar made only five appearances for the Riyadh club before sustaining a serious left knee injury while playing in a World Cup qualifier in October.
“Neymar’s return is highly anticipated by our players,” Koulibaly said. “We know that there is still a little bit of waiting due to his injury but people will see a great Neymar. He still has this motivation when we see him in training.”
Neymar returned to training last month and, according to local media, could start playing again in September.
In Neymar’s absence, Serbian striker Aleksandar Mitrovic scored 28 league goals last season, second only to Ronaldo’s record 35. Al-Hilal also has Portuguese international Ruben Neves and Morocco’s Yassine Bounou in goal.
Al-Nassr’s major new signing so far has been Brazilian goalkeeper Bento, who replaces Colombian international David Ospina. As well as Ronaldo, the Yellows have Senegalese star Sadio Mane, Croatian midfielder Marcelo Brozovic and defender Aymeric Laporte, who helped Spain to the European championship in July.
Other challenges are expected to come from Jeddah clubs Al-Ahli, led by Riyad Mahrez, and Karim Benzema’s Al-Ittihad, which has made the biggest signing this summer so far, paying over $60 million to Aston Villa for French winger Moussa Diaby.
All four clubs, which were taken over in 2023 by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, are by far the country’s best-supported teams.
League officials will likely be hoping a more competitive title race will help improve the average attendance, which was just over 8,000 per game last season.
Al-Hilal has international as well as domestic ambitions. The club will represent Asia in the expanded FIFA Club World Cup which kicks off June 15 in the United States.
Al-Hilal reached the final of the 2022 tournament before losing to Real Madrid.
“What will be expected going into that competition is that it’s going to be Neymar’s team,” the 33-year-old Koulibaly said. “So we’re going to do everything in training so that he’s out there and in his best conditions to help us win trophies.”
AP
