Saudi ‘Clasico’: Mitrovic vs Benzema as Al Hilal hosts Al Ittihad in top-of-the-table

While the Riyadh derby has - over the past 18 months at least - been the most hotly anticipated match in Saudi football, chiefly thanks to a certain Cristiano Ronaldo, it is the rivalry between Al Hilal and Al Ittihad that has historically been the highlight of the Kingdom’s calendar.

The two clubs, boasting 28 Saudi Pro League titles between them, contest what has become known as the ‘Saudi Clasico’ - in reference to the most watched game in global football: ‘El Clasico’ between Barcelona and Real Madrid.

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The 2024-25 season’s first encounter between Al Hilal and Al Ittihad takes place at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Sports City on Saturday. With a host of global stars on each team, the match will see the likes of Ruben Neves, João Cancelo and Aleksandar Mitrovic take on Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante and Moussa Diaby.

Here, Al Arabiya English previews the Saturday night’s Saudi Clasico showdown in Riyadh.

The context

Saudi Arabia’s two biggest clubs in terms of trophies won, Riyadh’s Al Hilal and Jeddah’s Al Ittihad have consistently gone toe-to-toe for more than 60 years. Their rivalry, alongside both football and city lines, had produced myriad memorable moments in that time. They are two of just three clubs - alongside Al Nassr - to have played in the Saudi top-flight for the past 49 consecutive seasons and there are few teams that know each other better.

Last season alone, Hilal and Ittihad met on seven occasions - in the Arab Club Champions Cup quarter-final, Saudi Pro League, Saudi Super Cup final, AFC Champions League quarter-final and King’s Cup semi-final. All seven matches had one thing in common: Al Hilal won them. In fact, the last time that Ittihad celebrated a victory over its rival was a 2-0 league win in Jeddah back in April 2021.

Of the players who featured three-and-a-half years ago, only midfielder Awad Al-Nashri, right-back Muhannad Al-Shanqeeti and winger Abdulrahman Al-Aboud remain at Al Ittihad, while Al Hilal still has Mohammed Kanno and Ali Al-Bulayhi in the heart of its midfield and defense respectively, as well as Yasser Al-Shahrani and Nasser Al-Dawsari; Salem Al-Dawsari, still Hilal’s captain, was missing that day.

Both clubs have had four coaches since then, though three of Ittihad’s have come in the past year. It is still early days in Laurent Blanc’s reign, but the Frenchman certainly appears to have steadied the ship of a club that looked in disarray last season as it mustered a feeble defense of its Saudi Pro League crown, ultimately finishing fifth and relinquishing the title to Hilal.

Of last season’s seven encounters, the only one that Jorge Jesus’ side did not win by at least two goals was the league game in Jeddah last September. Ittihad squandered a 3-1 lead to lose 4-3 and it felt like the moment the torch was passed to Hilal. Blanc’s first big test is to show that Ittihad can be more competitive against the club that has set the standard in Saudi football over the past 12 months. There has been little to separate the two teams in the early throes of the 2024-25 campaign, with both recording three wins from three to start the campaign.

Hilal has had comfortable victories against Al Akhdoud and Al Riyadh but was made to work hard for a 3-2 victory over Damac, while Ittihad squeezed past Al Taawoun and newly promoted Al Kholood courtesy of very late goals - before blowing Al Wehda away 7-1 last weekend. It means that Blanc’s side is top of the Saudi Pro League on goal difference heading into Saturday’s Clasico - and aiming to stay there.

The key battle: Aleksandar Mitrovic vs Karim Benzema

There are interesting contests all over the pitch. Can N’Golo Kante stop Ruben Neves exerting creative control? Which of respective new signings Steven Bergwijn and João Cancelo will dominate Ittihad’s left and Hilal’s right? Is Yasser Al-Shahrani up to the challenge of stifling Moussa Diaby? Will Ittihad’s Houssem Aouar bag his fourth goal in four games?

But the result of the match, as it so often does, is likely to come down to which team’s star striker is able to find the net in Riyadh. Aleksandar Mitrovic and Karim Benzema had markedly different seasons in 2023-24, with Hilal’s No. 9 taking to Saudi football like a duck to water and finishing runner-up to Cristiano Ronaldo in the race for the Golden Boot thanks to 28 goals in 28 games. Benzema, meanwhile, ended up 17th on the scoring charts as he struggled to adapt to the Saudi Pro League; his 16 goals was five fewer than team-mate Abderrazak Hamdallah.

Mitrovic has begun the new season in similarly electric form, netting three in two games as Al Hilal won the Saudi Super Cup, and adding braces in each of his first three Saudi Pro League matches. They are sensational statistics for any striker, though Ittihad was reassured of his fallibility after Mitrovic failed to find a way through in the AFC Champions League Elite win over Al Rayyan on Tuesday.

Another boost to Ittihad’s hopes has come in the form of Benzema, who has far looked more at home in the Kingdom under new coach Blanc. Only Mitrovic has more goals this season than the ex-Real Madrid star, with Benzema’s four strikes including an impressively taken hat-trick against Wehda in his last Pro League outing.

The manager

Jorge Jesus has started this season the way he finished 2023-24: with his side winning trophies and matches. The Saudi Super Cup victory over Al Nassr last month was the fourth piece of silverware Jesus and Hilal has hoovered up in 2024, with the Portuguese coach taking his overall tally to 26 major honors across a distinguished career. After besting both Nuno Espirito Santo and then Marcelo Gallardo as Ittihad were regularly brushed aside last season, he faces a new opponent on Saturday.

Laurent Blanc’s appointment at Al Ittihad came with an element of controversy as he was not originally the club’s first choice, with Benzema’s influence reportedly swaying the powers that be in Jeddah to hire the Frenchman. Thus far, it has looked like an inspired appointment. Blanc, a four-time Ligue 1 champion with Bordeaux and then PSG, appears to have instilled a belief and resilience at Ittihad that was obviously missing last season - his side admirably digging deep to secure late wins in its first two matches.

As part of a growing Francophone contingent at Ittihad, Blanc has overseen the successful integration of France international Moussa Diaby and Morocco midfielder Houssem Aouar into the team; both new signings have shone so far, although the clash with Hilal represents a significant step up in quality.

The two coaches have competitive history with each other as Jesus’ Benfica met Blanc’s PSG in the 2013-14 UEFA Champions League group stage. A Zlatan Ibrahimovic-inspired PSG comfortably won 3-0 in Paris, though Benfica came from behind to win 2-1 in the return match in Lisbon. More than a decade on, the coaches do battle again in the Kingdom.

The prediction

Laurent Blanc has made Al Ittihad into a much steelier side this season and this newfound resilience may stand the players in good stead against Al Hilal. The visitors should have enough to escape the capital with a draw from this high-stakes game.

Read more:

AFC Champions League Elite: Al Hilal takes revenge on Al Ain and Castro’s last stand

SPL Week 3: Benzema treble maintains perfect Al Ittihad start, Al Nassr rescues draw

Trio of Saudi clubs chasing AFC Champions League Elite glory in 2024-25