The recognition of technical director cup holder who Marcelo Gallardo forged in River begins to have some projection on the unstable current situation of Al Ittihad, the surprising destination he chose last November to continue his career abroad, after rejecting some offers from Europe, including one from Olympique Marseille. At the Faisal Suleiman stadium in Jeddah, covered at just 30 percent of its capacity, Al Ittihad 2-1 win at Al Wheda and qualified for the final of the Saudi Arabia Super Cup.
Al Ittihad is the defending champion, and Gallardo, next Thursday, will face the colleague who is his nemesis in the decisive match: Jorge Jesus, that in command of Al Hilal beat Al 2-1 in the other semifinal nasr, the set of Cristiano Ronaldo, who was sent off for an unusual reaction. The Portuguese coach boasts a 4-0 record about the doll. The paternity It began in the final of the 2019 Copa Libertadores, when Flamengo won 2-1, with two goals from Gabigol in the epilogue. It spread in Arab football, with two successes in the quarterfinals of the Asian Champions League and another in the local league.
Aside from the negative statistics, Gallardo will have a very difficult time because Al Hilal is the comfortable leader of the league, with a very strong, consolidated team, which has the Moroccan Bono in goal, Kalidou Koulibaly in the center of defense; to midfielders Ruben Neves and Milinkovic-Savic, and to forwards Malcom, Mitrovic and Salem Al-Dawsari, author of a goal in Saudi Arabia’s 2-1 victory over Argentina in the World Cup. For a few months he was left without Neymar, recovering from torn ligaments in his knee. A loss that did not seem to affect the form of a team that adds 33 wins in a row in all competitions, with 96 goals scored and only 14 conceded in that period. Of course, he commands easily (12 points per second) in the Saudi league. Breaking that undefeated record will be the enormous challenge for Gallardo and his team.
Al-Dawsari scored 1-0 over Al Nassr, with a cross kick. He increased the Brazilian Malcom, former Barcelona, with a header. Discounted Sadio Mané, at 53 minutes of the second period. It was a match that had a Cristiano Ronaldo out of control; In injury time he was sent off for attack with an elbow to the chest to Ali Al-Bulaihi. With the ball in his hand, the Portuguese was tempted to throw it at the referee: he actually made the gesture. The situation was very close to leading to a scandal. In the first half, CR7 got upset with the judge when he sanctioned him for an advanced position, which was influential about the goal that his teammate Otavio had scored. It is not the first time that Cristiano has had untimely reactions in the middle of a defeat.
Cristiano’s expulsion
The victory of Al Ittihad somewhat decompresses the climate of tension that had been installed in recent days, with some complaints from Karim Benzema and some dissatisfaction on the part of Gallardo for a squad that does not fit his needs. This Monday, the French center-forward broke the negative streak that he was dragging when he scored for the first time in 2024. He did it one minute into the game, with a half turn inside the area, when the ball came to him after a mistake by defender Jawad El Yamiq.
Benzema accumulated eight matches (seven for the Saudi Pro League and one for the Asian Champions League) without scoring. A drought that lasted for 115 days. He had not done so since December 15, in the 3-1 defeat against Al Ahly (Egypt) in the quarterfinals of the Club World Cup. In the last week, after the 0-0 draw against Al Taawoun, the ex-Real Madrid player made a self-criticism that included the general context of Al Ittihad: “I am not the same as Real Madrid. It is not the same club, it is not the same players. “I need help on the field, I can’t win alone.”
Highlights of Al Ittihad 2 – Al Wheda 1
Al Ittihad is one of four teams that are 75 percent owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, responsible for injecting large sums of money for international hiring, with the intention of turning local competition into a focus of global attention, within the government strategy of using sport as a state policy. One of those millionaire disbursements was for Gallardo to sign a contract until June 2025. He has at his disposal a squad in which, in addition to Benzema, he has N’Golo Kanté, Fabinho (inactive due to injury), Luiz Felipe, Jota and Romarinho.
The 2-0, 42 minutes into the second half, was scored by the Moroccan Abderazak Hamdallah, Al Ittihad’s top scorer in the local league, with 18 goals in 22 games. In the second stage, Benzema was close to the goal again, but he did not seem very precise or agile. A definition of his was cleared on the line by a rival. What was a quiet victory for Al Ittihad became a little complicated at the end. Al Wheda, which occupies 12th place among 18 participants in the Saudi league, has a more limited roster of international footballers than its rival. The most prominent name of him is the Nigerian striker Odion Ighalo, Already 34 years old, with a stint in the English Premier League.
Al Wheda’s reaction came very close to the closing. In the 46th minute, Fayçal Fajr, who had hit the crossbar a while before, took a penalty that went high. In the seven added minutes – in Saudi football the same criteria are applied as in the World Cup, with many minutes added to recover those lost due to interruptions – Al-Aissa discounted. At that moment Benzema was replaced, who came out with a look of exhaustion, although after the end he showed signs of joy with his teammates on the bench.
With no chance of fighting for the Saudi league title, and far from qualifying for next season’s Asian Champions League, Gallardo takes these first months of his management as a transition towards next season. He has already made public a demand addressed to the club authorities: “We depend on a very limited group of players, we must compete with them and find solutions. We are in the final stage of the league and this is the team we have. After the end of the season, The conversation will be different. In the current situation, we must improve performance and overcome difficulties.”