Saudi Super Cup: perfect launchpad for new RSL season

A new season brings with it fresh hope and optimism, and while the start of the Roshn Saudi League is still more than a week away, the Saudi Super Cup will provide a glimpse into what we can expect this term.

Featuring the top four teams from the previous RSL campaign - Al Hilal, Al Nassr, Al Ahli and Al Taawoun - the cup also offers the perfect launchpad for a side to kickstart a title challenge, carrying winning momentum into the beginning of the RSL campaign on August 22, while enjoying the confidence boost that comes from lifting silverware early in the season.

The format of the competition is simple: the four teams will compete across two semi-finals, with the winners advancing to meet in the final to crown the Super Cup champions. With all matches taking place in mountainous Abha, which was last week announced as a candidate host city for Saudi Arabia’s FIFA World Cup 2034 bid, the first semi-final will see defending RSL and Super Cup champions Al Hilal take on Al Ahli.

In the other last-four encounter, Al Nassr face off against last season’s surprise package Al Taawoun. The matches fall on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, with the showpiece on Saturday. While the Saudi Super Cup is, ostensibly, a curtain-raiser to the proper RSL season, this year’s tournament promises to be much more than that.

Al Hilal were an all-conquering force last term, going the entire domestic campaign - across the RSL, King’s Cup and Super Cup - without losing a single game. But that was last season, and a new campaign offers the rest of the chasing pack renewed hope and vigour.

For Al Hilal, though, it feels almost impossible to surpass their 2023-24 RSL campaign, in which they dropped only four points and set records for most points accrued (96), the highest win rate (91 percent) and the highest goals-per-match average (2.97). Their margin of title victory over second place - 14 points - also made history.

Thus, Al Hilal have set an incredibly high level to match or exceed; the question is whether they can be the same unstoppable force this time around. Understandably, Jorge Jesus has made little change to his squad over the summer - why would he when they were so dominant last time around?

The one major alteration, however, has been the departure of club legend Salman Al Faraj, the long-time captain departing for the ambitious NEOM in the First Division League. Meanwhile, there is excitement and expectation regarding the return from injury of Neymar, Al Hilal’s Brazil superstar, although the Super Cup will come too soon for that.

The opportunity in front of Matthias Jaissle’s Al Ahli, therefore, is a significant one. Can they be the first side to inflict a domestic defeat on Al Hilal in more than 15 months? The confidence they would carry into the season should they do so would be huge.

Last season was an impressive return to the RSL for the Jeddah giants after an unprecedented campaign in the second tier. Al Ahli were never really troubled for third place, but just lacked the consistency required to maintain a season-long title challenge.

With a settled squad, and another off-season to work with the team, expectations will be raised on the Red Sea as to what is possible in 2024-25. The clash with Al Hilal offers Jaissle and his side the ideal setting to lay down a statement for the season and, with last term’s top RSL assister Riyad Mahrez pulling the strings, anything is possible.

Looking at the second Saudi Super Cup semi-final, Al Nassr were the closest challenger to Al Hilal last season, but try as they might, the capital club just could not get past their Riyadh rivals when it mattered. After defeat in a dramatic penalty shootout in the King’s Cup final, the closing game of the domestic season, Cristiano Ronaldo and his teammates will be determined to start 2024-25 on a winning note and with silverware in their hands.

To do so would give Ronaldo his first major domestic title since arriving in Saudi Arabia – something he has publicly stated he craves - and getting that monkey off their back could free up Al Nassr for the RSL season ahead.

Finally, Al Taawoun are out to show that last season’s fourth-placed finish was no fluke. While the architect of that success, Pericles Chamusca, has departed - also for NEOM - in Rodolfo Arruabarrena, Al Taawoun have a more-than-capable replacement.

The Argentine may not have experienced managing in the Kingdom until now, but he has tasted success in the Gulf, with Al Rayyan in Qatar and Shabab Al Ahli Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Previous to that, he first showcased his coaching credentials at Dubai side Al Wasl.

If the former UAE national team manager was to secure an early win against Al Nassr, one of the 2024-25 RSL title favourites, it would provide both Arruabarrena and Al Taawoun a hefty boost heading into the new campaign.

Whichever way you look at it, and whatever way the results fall, there are storylines to follow and narratives to thread heading into the new season. Will it be more of the same with Al Hilal? Or will a new contender emerge? With the Saudi Super Cup more than whetting the appetite, we’re about to find out.