Saudi Super Cup 2024 final: Al Hilal meets Al Nassr again

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.

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Here, Al Arabiya English previews Saturday’s Saudi Super Cup final, which kicks off at 19:15 at the Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Stadium in Abha.

The context

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.

Despite a somewhat underwhelming pre-season, Al Nassr looked to be champing at the bit to get back into competitive action in Wednesday’s Saudi Super Cup semifinal. The team was full of attacking intent from the off against Al Taawoun and it was Yahya, the man who scored Al Nassr’s final goal of the 2023-24 season, who netted the club’s first of 2024-25.

Last season’s Saudi Pro League runner-up conceded plenty of chances, but no goals, in an open game but Cristiano Ronaldo doubled his team’s lead in the second-half and that was how it stayed. New goalkeeper Bento, a summer arrival from Brazil’s Athletico Paranaense, kept a morale-boosting first clean sheet but the night was, however, soured by a late red card to Marcelo Brozovic - meaning Al Nassr’s midfield dynamo will miss the final.

Al Hilal made harder work of its opponent but, as it did time and again last season, found a way to win its semifinal. Roberto Firmino put Al Ahli ahead and it seemed a big win was on the cards for the Jeddah club, until Serbia striker Mitrovic pounced to prove Al Hilal’s hero again. He powered home a 91st minute header to take the match to a penalty shootout, in which he scored - along with Ruben Neves, Salem Al-Dawsari and Sergej Milinovic-Savic. Al Ahli’s Gabri Veiga and Roger Ibanez both missed from 12 yards, sending Al Hilal into the final.

The key battle - Kalidou Koulibaly vs Sadio Mane

A consistently intriguing subplot of the many recent matches between Al Hilal and Al Nassr has been the contest between these two international teammates. Senegal captain Koulibaly did a commendable job in keeping Mane, arguably his country’s greatest ever player, at bay during each of last season’s encounters.

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Nassr forward Mane has faced Koulibaly’s Al Hilal on six occasions but only scored once - a late consolation in the 2-1 Saudi Super Cup semifinal defeat, minutes after teammate Ronaldo was red carded. Although Mane’s normal starting position out on the left means that Al Hilal right-back Saud Abdulhamid may be called upon more than Koulibaly to keep his cool, the ex-Liverpool star often moves across the frontline and did so to good effect to set up Al Nassr’s opening goal against Al Taawoun this week. It promises to be a fascinating duel.

The prediction

Given the respective sides’ semifinal performances, it seems Al Nassr could be primed to end Al Hilal’s period of domestic dominance. With both teams still finding their feet after the summer break, it will likely be a tight game but Al Nassr needs this more. Ronaldo will reign in Abha.

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