They might’ve been in Jeddah rather than their usual abode in Riyadh, but the Blue Wave still gathered in their thousands, as they usually do, behind the goal at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium.
In among the diehard Al Hilal fans were flags adorned with the words ‘Asia’s Leader’, the bold and perhaps provocative title that club has given itself; providing a glimpse into the mindset of a club that has made Asia their playground for the better part of the past decade.
Four times since 2017 have they made the final of the AFC Champions League, twice they have won it. That’s a record the envy of every other club across the continent, but batting at fifty percent is not enough for a club that places a premium on success on the continent.
Success in Asia is not so much expected, but demanded. It’s an impossibly high bar for anyone to meet, but that is also what sets Al Hilal apart. Other teams know it, and so before a ball is even kicked they’re already inside the mind of their opponents who fear what is to come.
That is a relentless and overwhelming surge from the fans and the players, working in almost perfect harmony to systematically dismantle what’s in front of them.
When they’re at full flight, it’s a sight to behold and very few can stop them.
This year, however, there was the tinniest crack in their armour after a string of poor domestic performances in recent months. Four defeats in their past 11 has their title defence hanging by a thread as they sit six points behind Al Ittihad with just five games remaining in the Saudi Pro League season.
In recent weeks they’ve dropped points to both Ettifaq and Al Shabab, while it wasn’t that long ago they lost the first leg of their Round of 16 tie against Pakhtakor 1-0, before overpowering the Uzbek side 4-0 in the second leg.
But for a side that recorded 34 consecutive wins only last season, to taste defeat four times in 11 games is as close as they’ll get to a full-blown crisis. The aura that they possess, at least domestically, had begun to fade as teams realised they were able to be got at.
So as they prepared to face Gwangju FC, the plucky upstarts from Korea who had already taken the scalp of two-time defending J.League champions, Vissel Kobe, in the Round of 16, were Al Hilal actually vulnerable heading into this game against a side that only a few years ago were playing in K2, the second-tier of domestic football in Korea?
“Against (Vissel) Kobe, many thought we couldn’t reach the next level because we lost 2-0 in the first leg but we showed our quality in the return leg to win 3-0,” Gwangju’s Brazilian forward Reis said on the eve of the game.
“We might be small but there’s no reason why we can’t win against Al Hilal because in football, anything is possible. Everyone knows the Al Hilal team because they have history and big players but when we enter the pitch, it’s 50-50.”
Entering the pitch might just have been the only time they were 50-50 with Al Hilal.
Any idea that the four-time Asian champions might be vulnerable was put to bed after a typically powerful opening 45 minutes on Friday evening in which they obliterated Gwangju; not just killing the game but also their spirit.
It wasn’t so much a Blue Wave as a tsunami from Jorge Jesus’ side that went to the break leading 3-0, but could easily have been so much more with 66 percent possession and 11 shots on goal.
It was the type of performance we’ve seen them produce before. Qatar’s Al Duhail are still scarred by their 7-0 loss at the hands of Al Hilal, who were 5-0 up at the break on that occasion.
The stadium in Jeddah was a cacophony of noise from the opening whistle and it took only six minutes for Al Hilal to assert their dominance, with Sergej Milinkovic-Savic powerfully heading home in an ominous warning for Gwangju.
When Marcos Leonardo made it 2-0 before the half-hour mark, the contest was as good as over, it was then simply a question of how many for Al Hilal.
Seven was to be the answer.
The pièce de résistance came just after the half-hour mark as the Al Hilal fans made the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium their canvas; painting it with a mesmerising tifo that covered half of the stadium.
As they did that, the team produced an artwork of their own with a devastating counter-attack that went from one end to the other in the blink of an eye, finished off by who else but Salem Al-Dawsari who sprinted away from his marker in blistering fashion to remind everyone of his brilliance.
It was a powerful goal in a powerful performance that sent a powerful message to their rivals: we ain’t done yet!
Photos: x/Alhilal_EN
Listen to Episode 243 of The Asian Game Podcast as we preview the AFC Champions League Elite Finals.
