ACL AFC Elite Week 4 Review: Five-star Al Nassr and Al Ahli claim statement wins

The group stage of the newly rebranded AFC Champions League Elite continued this week, with three Saudi clubs in contention for Asia’s most prestigious club trophy. Al Hilal, Al Nassr and Al Ahli are among the favorites to lift the continental title, although they face stiff competition from clubs in Qatar, UAE, Japan and South Korea.

Five of the best for Ronaldo’s Al Nassr

Reigning Asian champion Al Ain was decimated 5-1 by ruthless Al Nassr, as Cristiano Ronaldo and his teammates produced their finest performance of the season in Riyadh. Al Nassr went into the match having failed to win its last three games in all competitions, but having at least earned a creditable Saudi Pro League draw with rivals Al Hilal on Friday. That result appeared to reignite Al Nassr, which blew last season’s Asian champion away on Tuesday night.

Talisca, who scored against Al Hilal at the weekend, bagged himself another two goals – setting Al Nassr on its way after just five-minutes. Ronaldo snapped a four-game goalless streak to double his team’s lead, the Al Nassr captain reacting quickly to pounce on the rebound after Sadio Mane’s long-range shot was saved. It was 3-0 before half-time after Angelo’s driving run and cross was turned through his own net by Fabio Cardoso.

Visitor Al Ain was given a glimmer of hope in the second-half thanks to an unfortunate own goal from Al Nassr goalkeeper Paulo Bento, which saw the ball hit the post and bounce against the back of his head and into the net. But two late goals saw Al Nassr complete the demolition job, with substitute Wesley and a second for Talisca underlining the host’s dominance and sending Stefano Pioli’s side into third place in the West Region table.

Firmino fires five-star Al Ahli

Double strikes from captain Roberto Firmino and Algerian ace Riyad Mahrez helped Al Ahli run riot against Iraqi team Al Shorta, winning 5-1 in Jeddah. It wasn’t all plain sailing for the home side, however. Shorta nearly took the lead after two minutes but Al Ahli goalkeeper Abdulrahman Al-Sanbi brilliantly saved Mohammed Dawood Yaseen’s effort. Soon after, Firmino drew first blood as he timed his run perfectly to loop a header home from Ziyad Al-Johani’s excellent pass.

Franck Kessie then missed a penalty for Al Ahli and minutes later Shorta, which drew with Al Nassr earlier in this season’s ACL Elite, was level through Sajjad Jassim. Had the Iraqi visitor made it through until half-time, maybe the game would have gone a different way, but instead Firmino grabbed a second moments before the interval. Having been denied by VAR two minutes earlier, the Brazilian smashed home Firas Al-Buraikan’s pull-back to restore the advantage.

Al Ahli came out with renewed purpose in the second half and within 20 minutes, the game was over as a contest. Saudi striker Al-Buraikan struck first, evading his marker to turn home Firmino’s cross from close range as the Brazilian returned the favor for his second goal. Ex-Manchester City magician Mahrez put the result beyond doubt as he helped himself to a brace. The first was a curling left-foot effort from the edge of the box and the second saw him arrive late to finish well, as Al Ahli continued its impressive ACL Elite form.

Mitrovic bags treble in Al Hilal win

Unusually it was Al Hilal’s result that was the least eye-catching of the three clubs from the Kingdom, although the Saudi Pro League leader still won convincingly – downing Iranian club Esteghlal thanks to a hat-trick from Aleksandar Mitrovic. The Serbian striker has been in prolific form in 2024-25, though he had gone three games without a goal prior to Esteghlal’s visit to Riyadh.

On Monday night, Mitrovic exploded back into life – putting Al Hilal into a 15th-minute lead after stealing in at the back post to turn home Al Nasser-Al-Dawsari’s cross. It was 2-0 before half-time as Al Hilal’s No. 9 showed deft movement to get on the end of Renan Lodi’s pull-back. It was the Brazilian left-back’s seventh goal contribution in his past eight games. Mitrovic completed his hat-trick in the 74th minute with a textbook header, the Serbia forward rising to power in João Cancelo’s right-wing cross. Mitrovic now has 17 goals in 17 games this season.

Al Hilal dominated and it could have been worse for Esteghlal if not for goalkeeper Hossein Hosseini, who produced a series of impressive stops. There was also a concerning moment for Jorge Jesus’ side when Neymar, only recently returned from injury, was withdrawn less than half an hour after coming on as a substitute himself. The Brazilian has since claimed he was only suffering from cramp, but it shows again that Neymar’s reintegration needs to be handled carefully. Still, Al Hilal could celebrate staying top of the ACL Elite West Region group, ahead of Al Ahli on goal difference.

Best of the rest

Back in fourth place, behind the trio of Saudi clubs, is reigning Qatari champion Al Sadd. Coached by Felix Sanchez, who won the 2019 AFC Asian Cup with the Qatar national team, Al Sadd battled back to draw 1-1 with Emirati outfit Al Wasl in Dubai. Alexis Perez put the home side ahead before Morocco national team captain Romain Saïss, who played in the Saudi Pro League for Al Shabab last season, equalized in the second-half.

Elsewhere, left-back Hazem Shehata was Al Rayyan’s surprise hero – scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win away to Pakhtakor. Qatar international Shehata’s second-half strike gave the visitor a valuable away win in Uzbekistan and left Pakhtakor third-bottom in the ACL West Region table.

Week 4’s final contest was between Iran’s Persepolis and Qatar’s Al Gharafa, with neither side able to get over the line in a 1-1 draw. In a frenetic three-minute period in the second half, Persepolis took a deserved lead through an unmarked Farshad Faraji but was pegged back almost immediately by a fine strike from Ahmed Al Ganehi.