ACL Elite Last-16: Al Ahli, Al Hilal and Al Nassr all reach finals stage in Saudi Arabia
The battle to win the inaugural edition of the newly rebranded AFC Champions League Elite continued this week, with three Saudi clubs still 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.
Having reached the last-16 stage, the ACL Elite’s next round will sees this week’s eight winners – four from West Asia and four from East Asia – facing off in a new-look ‘finals stage’ which takes place in Saudi Arabia from April 25 to May 4. On the West Asian side, three of the four representatives will be from the Kingdom after Al Nassr, Al Ahli and Al Hilal all made it through their last-16 ties, with reigning Qatari champion Al Sadd completing the line-up.
Saudis inspire Al Hilal comeback
Goals from Saudi Arabia national team players Hamad Al-Yami, Salem Al-Dawsari and Nasser Al-Dawsari helped Al Hilal overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit to beat Pakhtakor 4-0 on the night in Riyadh, and 4-1 on aggregate. After last week’s disappointing defeat in Uzbekistan, Hilal showed admirable spirit to turn the tie around and reach the finals stage, with the Riyadh giant looking to add a record-extending fifth premier continental crown to its trophy cabinet.
If Hilal’s players were nervous about their chances of progressing, they didn’t show it. Full-back Al-Yami opened the scoring with a spectacular diving header from Mohamed Kanno’s left-wing cross and before half-time the reigning Saudi champion was ahead in the tie. Brazilian winger Malcom was the goal scorer, sprinting clear and finishing from another Kanno assist.
Salem Al-Dawsari then netted from the penalty spot shortly after half-time – dusting himself down after drawing the foul inside the box – as the Hilal captain claimed a seventh ACL Elite goal of the season, putting him level with Al Nassr skipper Cristiano Ronaldo. The 4-0 scoreline was completed in the second minute of stoppage time as Abdullah Al-Hamdan set up fellow substitute Nasser Al-Dawsari for perhaps the easiest tap-in goal of his career. The Kingdom Arena could breathe a sigh of relief as Hilal coach Jorge Jesus took a big step towards a potential first Asian title with the club.
Al-Ahli completes comprehensive win
After doing the hard yards in last week’s 3-1 away win in Qatar, Al Ahli finished the job in style in front of its own fans as Riyad Mahrez scored twice in a 2-0 victory over Al Rayyan. Ahli is the only unbeaten team left in this season’s competition, having avoided defeat in all 10 of its ACL Elite matches so far; led by coach Matthias Jaissle, the club – which was in the Saudi First Division this time two years ago – is aiming for its first ever triumph in the competition.
Having lost at home in the first leg, it was Al Rayyan that needed to push hardest in Jeddah, but the Qataris came up against an Ahli side in no mood to relinquish its lead. Ahli dominated the game, though Al Rayyan had a great chance to get back into the tie in the second half when Romarinho’s thunderous shot was brilliantly saved by Ahli goalkeeper Abdulrahman Al-Sanbi. From the subsequent corner, striker Ivan Toney was the unlikely defensive hero, bravely heading the ball off the line.
The scores were locked at 0-0 until Mahrez made the decisive intervention in the game’s 77th-minute. The Algeria winger beautifully controlled Galeno’s scooped through-ball and deftly lifted it over Rayyan goalkeeper Paulo Victor. Just six minutes later Mahrez put the result of the tie beyond any doubt as he finished off a swift counterattack with a precise finish from Gabri Veiga’s pass. Mahrez has now scored eight in this season’s ACL Elite and only Yokohama F. Marinos’ Anderson Lopes (9) has bagged more in Asian competition in 2024-25. The ex-Manchester City star is aiming to become the first player to win the UEFA and AFC Champions League titles.
Ronaldo and Duran take Al Nassr through
Al Nassr kept alive its hopes of a first ever AFC Champions League Elite title as a brace from record signing Jhon Duran and a strike from talisman Cristiano Ronaldo secured a 3-0 win over Esteghlal that sent the club into the competition’s final stage next month. Nassr, whose only previous continental triumphs came in the 1998 Asian Cup Winners’ Cup and Asian Super Cup, had drawn the first leg 0-0 in Iran but produced a dominant performance in Riyadh to progress.
After enduring a frustrating evening in Tehran last week, Colombia striker Duran took just nine minutes on Monday to score his first ACL Elite goal for Nassr. Esteghlal goalkeeper Hossein Hosseini had been a hero for his side in the first leg but this time it was his error that led to Duran’s opener as he passed the ball straight to Nassr’s No. 9, who lobbed the ball back over his head into the empty goal.
Nassr’s second goal came courtesy of Ronaldo, whose clever backheel released Sadio Mane into the penalty area before the Senegal forward drew a foul from Esteghlal midfielder Zobeir Niknafs. Ronaldo – as he so often does – held his nerve from the spot to double his side’s lead. It was Ronaldo’s seventh goal of this season’s ACL Elite – sending him temporarily joint-top of the competition’s Golden Boot standings. Nassr held Esteghlal at bay and Duran then sealed a 3-0 victory for Stefano Pioli’s side in the 84th minute, finishing off an excellent team move that involved Ronaldo, Mane and Ângelo Gabriel.
Qatari champ Al Sadd advances
Like Al Nassr, reigning Qatari champion Al Sadd made it through despite drawing its first leg, as a convincing display saw Felix Sanchez emerge with a 3-1 triumph over Al Wasl in Doha. Sanchez, who won the AFC Asian Cup with Qatar in 2019, is aiming to become the first coach to lift the continent’s premier titles with both a country and a club.
After a tight encounter in Dubai, the second leg was a vastly more open affair as four goals in a remarkable 27-minute spell in the first half decided the tie in Al Sadd’s favor. It was Al Wasl that initially went ahead at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium as club stalwart Fabio Lima, who has been with the reigning UAE champion for 11 years, swept the ball home from Alexis Pérez’s cross. It was Lima’s second goal of this season’s competition.
Al Sadd was not down and out, however, and leveled the scores on 26 minutes as Qatar national team midfielder Mustafa Mashaal met Akraf Afif’s intelligent pull-back with a tidy finish. Four minutes later Al Sadd took the lead as Algerian full-back Youcef Atal netted from what seemed to be an impossibly tight angle. By half-time, Sanchez’s side was home and dry as Asian Footballer of the Year Afif curled in a stunning effort from 20 yards out to take Al Sadd through the last-16 for the first time since it reached the semi-finals in 2019.
