Benzema wins SPL before Ronaldo

Al Raed's resounding home win helped Al Ittihad win the title with two matches to spare. Karim Benzema and his teammates convincingly won the championship when they were 9 points ahead of second-placed Al Hilal (77 vs 68) and played one more match.

Even with the same points, Al Ittihad still ranked above their city rivals thanks to a better head-to-head record (lost 1-3 in the first leg, won 4-1 in the second leg).

Benzema only needed 2 seasons to lift his first championship in the Middle Eastern country, while Cristiano Ronaldo has yet to find hope of winning the Saudi Pro League title with Al Nassr. Ronaldo and his teammates are even at risk of not participating in the AFC Champions League Elite next season, as they are currently in 4th place.

Benzema becomes SPL champion.

Despite a shaky start at home at King Abdullah Sports City when Oumar Gonzalez unexpectedly put Al Raed ahead in the 9th minute, Al Ittihad did not take long to turn the game around.

In the 21st minute, Steven Bergwijn equalized after an assist from Abdulrahman Al Aboud. In the 40th minute, Danilo Pereira, assisted by Unai Hernandez, increased the score to 2-1, putting Al Ittihad ahead before the end of the first half.

Right at the beginning of the second half, Al Aboud continued to shine with a goal to increase the score to 3-1 in the 47th minute, extinguishing any remaining faint hope of Al Raed and opening the celebration of thousands of yellow and black shirted fans.

After a disappointing 2023/24 season in which they finished 5th and 42 points behind Al Hilal, Al Ittihad have undergone a remarkable transformation under the guidance of coach Laurent Blanc. The team took the lead from round 19 and never lost that position. They took full advantage of the decline of their competitors to steadily advance to the throne.

One of the key factors in Al Ittihad’s success is Karim Benzema. Although he did not play in the match that decided the championship, the French striker contributed 21 goals and 9 assists after 28 matches, ranking second in the list of top scorers, only behind Cristiano Ronaldo (23 goals).

This title marks the 10th time Al Ittihad has won the domestic championship and is a testament to the strong comeback of one of the most traditional teams in Saudi Arabia.

Source: https://znews.vn/benzema-vo-dich-spl-truoc-ronaldo-post1553463.html