Fans of The New Saints of Oswestry Town & Llansantffraid Football Club were surely supporting Al-Ittihad on Tuesday. The Jeddah team were TNS’s only hope of protecting their world record for the longest winning streak by a men’s top-tier team in all competitions. That was set in December 2016 when the 16-time Cymru Premier champions won their 27th game in a row to end Ajax’s 44-year spell at the top. Al-Ittihad failed and Al-Hilal collected their 28th straight victory to take the accolade from the English-Welsh border to Riyadh.
The last opponents not to lose against Al-Hilal were Damac who, thanks to a 30-yard free-kick from Nicolae Stanciu, drew 1-1 in September. That was Neymar’s first league start after his big move to the Saudi Pro League, but he has played little part in this run owing to a cruciate injury sustained with Brazil the following month. Instead, others have shone. Aleksandar Mitrovic has scored 28 goals in 30 league and Champions League appearances since arriving from Fulham. Rúben Neves has impressed from the start and, in the second half of the season, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic has become increasingly influential. The Brazilian winger Malcom, a big-money buy even if it did not make big news, has settled well and there is also Salem Al-Dawsari, the Asian player of the year.
That helps to explain why Al-Hilal, under their coach Jorge Jesus, have averaged more than three goals a game in the league this season. Talent at the other end of the pitch means they are conceding, on average, about once every two games. This tightest of defences is marshalled by Kalidou Koulibaly alongside Ali Al-Bulaihi and also features Saud Abdulhamid, a right-back who should be playing in Europe, and the Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.
It is a formidable lineup, especially in Asian terms, but then Al-Hilal are one of four Saudi Arabian teams owned by the country’s Public Investment Fund and have the deepest of pockets. Even before that development, though, the Blues were a machine. Al-Hilal have always found ways to win and can never be counted out when behind in a game or a title race. Two seasons ago, they were 16 points behind Al-Ittihad but ended up as champions for a record 18th time. Thanks to this 28-game run, Jesus’s men are 12 points clear of Al-Nassr and Cristiano Ronaldo in second, with title No 19 surely on its way.
Al-Hilal have been Asian champions a record four times and, after this week’s win over Al-Ittihad, moved into the last four of the Champions League. There, they are expected to beat Al-Ain of the United Arab Emirates, who are coached by Hernán Crespo, and few would bet against them collecting a fifth crown, especially as the domestic league is virtually in the bag and they can focus on Asia instead.
As José Mourinho – a coach continually linked with jobs in Saudi Arabia – may say, this is their football heritage. Fans of other clubs point to other reasons, such as favourable refereeing decisions and penalties. Al-Hilal were given three spot-kicks in last week’s comeback 3-1 win at struggling Al-Riyadh, with Mitrovic scoring and missing one and Neves converting the other. It summed up the season of a team who have not always been fluid but who always score – the last failure was 10 months ago – and last conceded more than one goal on 1 September.
It is valid to ask whether the Saudi Pro League is as predictable as some of those in Europe. To a point it is. “The Boss” have won five of the past seven titles and it will soon be six from eight. The other members of the Big Four have similar riches but have struggled to attain the same consistency. Just as in Germany, where Bayern Munich are always there and others break from the pack to challenge for a while, there is something similar in Saudi Arabia. Al-Ittihad won last season, Al-Nassr in 2019 and Al-Ahli three years earlier.
Al-Nassr have, arguably, bigger names such as Ronaldo, Sadio Mané, Marcelo Brozovic and Aymeric Laporte. There is a reliance on these stars, especially Ronaldo, making the difference, but even when they do there are huge problems at the back with no league clean sheets for nine games. After the team fell out of the title race and crashed out of Asia this week, the coach, Luís Castro, is under pressure.
Al-Ittihad were deserved champions last season but after adding Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kanté, Fabinho and Jota, they have become weaker. Nuno Espírito Santo has been replaced by Marcelo Gallardo and although there are signs that the team are becoming a little more expansive, there is some way to go. Al-Ahli were promoted and with Riyad Mahrez, Roberto Firmino and Allan Saint-Maximin, should take a top-three spot and expect to build next season.
History shows, however, that challenging Al-Hilal consistently is far from easy and the present confirms a world-class winning mentality.
