After 696 days: will Al-Hilal capitalise on Al-Ahli's woes to settle the Clasico?
A difficult match awaits both teams
Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli meet on Tuesday evening in their postponed third-round Roshn League clasico, with "the Leader" facing a chance to end one of the most troubling curses in its history against "the Refined". For years now, the blues have been unable to beat their rivals in normal time.
Their last win over Al-Ahli outside a penalty shootout dates back to 5 October 2024, when "the Leader" edged a 2-1 result in the Roshn League. Since that day, Al-Ahli have become a nightmare opponent for the blue side, denying them victory across five consecutive meetings.
Al-Ahli won two of those games, while three ended in draws. Among them was last season's semi-final of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup, which "the Leader" settled on penalties. That means the win never came within the actual playing time.
Al-Ahli, Al-Hilal's curse: and Asian memories that pain the Leader
The suffering did not stop at domestic competitions. It stretched to the Asian stage too, when "the Refined" brought down "the Leader" 3-1 in the AFC Champions League Elite semi-final during the 2024-2025 season, one of the harshest defeats Al-Hilal endured in that period.
That result in particular handed Al-Ahli a significant psychological edge in their recent meetings. It confirmed that the western side fear nothing about facing "the Leader", no matter how strong the squad or how heavy the pressure around the match.
This clasico, though, arrives in entirely different circumstances. Al-Hilal hold a historic chance to end the run, while Al-Ahli come into the meeting reeling from a string of changes and blows that have wrecked their stability of late.
Al-Hilal in front of a chance to exploit Al-Ahli's collapse
Several of Al-Ahli's biggest names have departed recently, deepening the trouble for "the Refined". The Algerian Riyad Mahrez and the Ivorian Franck Kessié both left, along with coach Matthias Jaissle. Those changes forced the team into a phase of technical rebuilding early in the season.
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Squad and coaching upheaval was only part of it. Al-Ahli also suffered a harsh 3-1 loss in the last round against Al-Khaleej, a match that raised plenty of question marks over the team's technical condition and cranked up the pressure right before facing Al-Hilal.
Here is where Al-Hilal's opening appears. "The Leader" do not simply face the Al-Ahli of previous meetings, but a team in transition, hunting for stability and identity. That could hand Al-Hilal an advantage if they press early and exploit the spaces and mistakes that have crept into their rivals' game.
Approaching the clasico this way carries its own danger, though. Al-Ahli know exactly how to play against Al-Hilal, and have brought "the Leader" down more than once even when the blues were at their best. Leaning on the opponent's crises alone may be a trap, especially as top clashes so often impose their own logic.
696 days await Al-Hilal's word
Count the days since Al-Hilal's last win over Al-Ahli in actual time and the figure reaches 696. "The Leader" enter Tuesday's meeting with a chance to end that curse and rewrite the story of the clasico.
Victory would mean far more than three points in a postponed match. It would hand Al-Hilal a huge psychological lift against an opponent that has caused so much frustration over the past two years, and it would send a message to the rest of the competitors: "the Leader" can bring down even the teams that have most obstructed their path.
Al-Ahli, for their part, know the circumstances around them may make them the less favoured side on paper. Yet that alone may give them an extra incentive to respond and restore confidence against an opponent of Al-Hilal's size.
Tuesday's clasico, then, goes beyond a scrap for points. Al-Hilal want to shed a curse 696 days old, while Al-Ahli want to prove their current troubles do not mean surrender to their historic rival. So will "the Leader" exploit "the Refined's" disasters and break the run, or will Al-Ahli keep playing the role of the curse that refuses to end?
