When the draw for the group stage was drawn on August 31 for the Champions League, Manchester United was considered the most likely candidate to accompany Bayern Munich to the last 16 and obtain one of the two places in the first group, but the start was disastrous for the team of Dutch coach Erik ten Hag, who began his campaign with a loss. On the ground of the Bavarian club, 3-4, before being shocked at its home stadium by falling to the Turkish Galatasaray, 2-3.
The Red Devils team, which is preparing to host its arch-neighbor Manchester City, the defending champion, on Sunday in the Premier League, enters the third round sitting at the bottom of the group without points, while Bayern leads Best before its trip on Tuesday (October 24, 2023) to Turkey to face Galatasaray. Saray trailed by two points.
After falling to Galatasaray, United breathed a sigh of relief with two local victories in the Premier League over Brentford and Sheffield United by the same score, 2-1, and therefore hopes that this will give them the moral boost to emerge victorious from their third confrontation with the Danish team that they met in the group stage of the main continental competition in 2006. It won it 3-0 before losing the second leg 0-1, then in the Europa League quarter-finals in 2020 when it beat it 1-0 after extra time in a one-match match at the time due to the repercussions of the Corona virus.
World football stars in the “Roshen” League – The Saudi League enters a new era
The year 2023, an unimaginable beginning
It is true that the Saudi Football League has been a professional league since 2009, and it is a destination for football stars who have shined in various stadiums in the Arab world and around the world, but what happened at the beginning of 2023 did not occur to anyone. In January 2023, Al-Nasr Saudi Club announced the signing of Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo, a five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
World football stars in the “Roshen” League – The Saudi League enters a new era
Ronaldo chooses Al-Nasr – an astronomical deal and a challenge awaiting him
When he was hired, Ronaldo was 37 years old, and his transfer deal to Al-Nassr for two and a half seasons, until June 2025, was estimated at more than 440 million euros. The deal was financed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund. Ronaldo explained in Riyadh that he received offers from many clubs, “but I gave my word to this club, not only for the opportunity to play football but (to be) part of this wonderful country. And for me, that was a challenge.”
World football stars in the “Roshen” League – The Saudi League enters a new era
Mane from Bayern Munich to Al-Nasr
Ronaldo’s move to Al-Nassr opened the appetite of other stars to move to the Saudi club, such as Senegalese striker Sadio Mane (31 years old), who left Bayern Munich after one year. The deal was estimated at 30 million euros, with a salary of 40 million euros annually. Ivorian star Sekou Fofana (28 years old), one of Lens’s most prominent players, also moved to Al-Nasr in a deal estimated at 25 million euros. As well as Croatian Marcelo Brozevic (30 years old), the Inter star, with a deal estimated at 21 million euros.
World football stars in the “Roshen” League – The Saudi League enters a new era
Messi turns his back on Al Hilal
As for Al-Hilal, Al-Nasr’s traditional rival, it tried to sign a contract with Ronaldo’s traditional rival, the Argentine star Leon Messi, to be a competing duo in the Saudi League, as it once was in the Spanish League. After visits made by Messi to Saudi Arabia and statements from various sources regarding his contract with Al Hilal, Messi surprised everyone by moving to Inter Miami in the United States.
World football stars in the “Roshen” League – The Saudi League enters a new era
“Neymar Hilali”
Al Hilal Saudi Arabia surprised everyone and announced on Tuesday (August 15, 2023) its contract with Brazilian striker Neymar, coming from Paris Saint-Germain, and Al Hilal said on the (X) social media platform, formerly known as Twitter, “Neymar Hilali.” Press reports stated that the Saudi club agreed with the 31-year-old striker to pay him 160 million euros ($175 million) over two seasons.
World football stars in the “Roshen” League – The Saudi League enters a new era
Al-Hilal strengthens its battalion
Before that, Al Hilal succeeded in signing Senegalese centre-back Khalidou Koulibaly (32 years old), the English Chelsea star, in a deal estimated at 23 million euros. He also signed a contract with Serbian Sergei Milinkovic-Savic (28 years old) from Lazio, until 2026, for 40 million euros.
World football stars in the “Roshen” League – The Saudi League enters a new era
Brazilian Malcom to Al Hilal for 60 million euros
Al Hilal also signed Portuguese midfielder Ruben Neves (26 years old), Wolverhampton’s most prominent star, for a deal estimated at sixty million dollars, as well as Brazilian winger Malcolm (26 years old) from Russian Zenit (center of the picture) for a deal estimated at sixty million euros as well.
World football stars in the “Roshen” League – The Saudi League enters a new era
Benzema in Ittihad Jeddah
As for the Jeddah Football Association, it achieved heavy-caliber deals with the size of Frenchman Karim Benzema (35 years old), the second-best scorer in the history of Spanish Real Madrid, and the best player in the world for the year 2022, in a three-year free transfer deal with an estimated salary of 200 million euros. Benzema won the Champions League five times with Real Madrid. Now Benzema will look forward to winning the AFC Champions League, as his Al-Ittihad team is the champion of the Roshen League, named after the company sponsoring the Saudi tournament.
World football stars in the “Roshen” League – The Saudi League enters a new era
Kante and Fabinho accompany Benzema to the Etihad
Al-Ittihad signed French defensive midfielder N’Golo Kante (32 years old) from Chelsea, as a free player for three years. According to reports, his salary may reach 100 million euros a year. He also signed a contract with Brazilian Fabinho (29 years old) for a deal estimated at 47 million euros until 2026, from Liverpool, in addition to contracting with Portuguese winger Joao Felipe “Jota” (24 years old) from Scottish club Celtic for a period of three years.
World football stars in the “Roshen” League – The Saudi League enters a new era
Riyad Mahrez Ahlawy
As for Al-Ahly, which was promoted again to the Roshan League, it put together a plan to restore its position in the Saudi League and signed a contract with the Algerian winger Riyad Mahrez (32 years old), who spent five seasons with Manchester City in England, during which he won 11 titles, including four in the league, with a deal estimated at 30 million pounds until 2027. .
World football stars in the “Roshen” League – The Saudi League enters a new era
Firmino and Mendy also joined Al-Ahly
Al-Ahly signed Brazilian Roberto Firmino (31 years old) from Liverpool, in a three-year free transfer deal. He signed Senegalese goalkeeper Edouard Mendy (31 years old) from Chelsea, in a deal estimated at $22 million plus a salary of $15 million with bonuses. The International Federation chose him as the best goalkeeper in the world in 2021. French winger Alain Saint-Maximan (26 years old) also transferred from Newcastle, England, for three years.
World football stars in the “Roshen” League – The Saudi League enters a new era
Liverpool is strongly present in the Saudi League
As for the agreement, he signed a contract with Englishman Jordan Henderson (33 years old), former Liverpool captain. He will receive $915,000 per week, according to press reports. He signed French striker Moussa Dembele (27 years old), whose contract with Lyon expired, and Scottish defender Jack Hendry (28 years old) from Belgian Club Brugge. He signed a contract with English coach Steven Gerrard (43 years old), Liverpool legend. Gerrard is looking forward to finishing among the top four in the Saudi League.
After the painful loss to Galatasaray, Ten Hag seemed calm by saying, “There are still four matches left, including two consecutive matches with Copenhagen. Each match will be very difficult, but we know what must be done.” The fateful mission against FC Copenhagen will be undertaken by the “Red Devils” at home on Tuesday, in a match that will also witness honoring United legend Bobby Charlton, who passed away on Saturday at the age of 86. United realizes that only winning the match will enable them to return comfortably to the competition. The match also bears special importance for United’s new star, Rasmus Hoylund, because the 20-year-old will face his former team and his twin brothers, Emil and Oscar, who are 18 years old.
Group leader
As for Istanbul, Galatasaray is counting on the encouragement of its fans to deprive Bayern Munich of its third successive victory in this group, but the task will not be easy facing a team looking for its sixteenth successive victory in the group stage, as it has not tasted defeat in the last 36 matches. This is a record achievement that no team has achieved in the history of the competition (33 wins and 4 draws).
Tuesday’s confrontation will be the first between the two teams since the 1972-1973 season, when they tied in the first leg of the first round 1-1, before Bayern won the second leg with a sweeping score of 6-0.
Coach Thomas Tuchel’s team enters the match in high spirits after the local victory on Saturday at Mainz 3-1, led by English top scorer Harry Kane, who raised his score to 9 goals in his 8 matches in the “Bundesliga” and 10 in 11 matches in all competitions. “I still feel like there’s room for improvement, and I’m still getting to know my teammates,” the former Tottenham star said after Saturday’s game.
Sarcasm to avoid getting suspended
In Portugal, within Group C, Real Madrid is also looking for its third win in a row when it visits Sporting Braga in a match that constitutes preparation for what awaits Saturday in Catalonia, where the “Clásico” will play on the ground of its rival Barcelona in the eleventh round of the Spanish League.
After its last-gasp victory over its German guest, Union Berlin, with a goal scored by Englishman Jude Bellingham in stoppage time, Real returned from southern Italy with its second victory at the expense of Napoli (3-2), which hopes to regain its balance and achieve its second victory when it is a guest in the German capital.
Real Madrid is playing its first ever confrontation with Sporting Braga with somewhat shaky morale as a result of a 1-1 draw in the league with Seville in a match whose first half saw the cancellation of two goals for the Royal Club, which angered its Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti, who said, “The sarcastic approach is the only way after this match because… “I think that if I say what I think about refereeing, I will be suspended for several matches, and what I want most at this moment is to sit on Real Madrid’s substitutes bench. So, to avoid the suspension, I do not say what I really think and use a slightly sarcastic style.”
In the second group, after the defeat at the hands of French club Lens 1-2 in the previous round, the English Arsenal will face a difficult task on Tuesday at the Spanish home of Seville, which trails the Gunners in third place by a point. As for Lens, who leads with four points, it will host PSV Eindhoven, which is at the bottom with one point.
In the fourth, Italian Inter hopes to break the partnership with Spanish Real Sociedad (4 points each), when it hosts Austrian Red Bull Salzburg (3 points), while the Basque club will play at home with Portuguese Benfica, which left empty-handed in the first two rounds.
WP/HZ (AFP)
2023-10-23 19:56:20
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