Mahrez will have the chance to win his first title in Saudi Arabia when he participates in the tournament. Saudi Super Cup For the 2024-2025 season, which will be contested by 4 clubs: Al-Ahly, Al-Hilal, Al-Nasr and Al-Taawoun.
Algerian Riyad Mahrez, or “Halal Al-Aqd” – as he is called – was unable to win any title in his first season with “Al-Raqi”, after joining it in the summer of 2023 from Manchester City in England in a deal estimated at 35 million euros according to many media sources.
Mahrez will play his first official match with Al-Ahly during the new 2024-2025 season tomorrow, Tuesday, against Al-Hilal in the semi-finals of the Saudi Super Cup, noting that he has a sporting vendetta that he will seek to take against “Al-Zaeem”.
Halal Al-Aqd Mahrez seeks his first title in Saudi Arabia
The contract holder, Mahrez, was unable to win any title in all the tournaments he participated in with his team, Al-Ahly, during the last season 2023-2024, as he was satisfied with occupying third place in the Roshen League behind the champion, Al-Hilal, and its runner-up, Al-Nasr, with 65 points from 34 matches.
Despite the fact that the “Castle of Cups” Al-Ahly signed many distinguished players such as the Algerian and Brazilian star Roberto Firmino, the Turkish Merih Demiral, the Ivorian Franck Kessie and the Spaniard Gabri Vega, it did not win the Saudi League title, settling for third place after achieving 19 wins, suffering 7 defeats and achieving 8 draws.
The Algerian international was subjected to some criticism from Al-Ahly fans, and the reason – according to them – is that he did not provide the same performance and level that he showed with his former team, Manchester City, with whom he won the historic treble in his last seasons, which are the Champions League, the English Premier League and the English FA Cup.
Mahrez contributed to Al-Raqi scoring 24 goals in the Roshn League last season, scoring 11 goals and providing 13 assists, but these numbers did not intercede for him with some of the team’s fans who are demanding more from him to lead the club towards winning titles during the new season.
It was not a situation Algeria national team star His team, Al-Ahly, in the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup competition was in better shape last season, as the team bid farewell to the tournament in the round of 16 with a surprising defeat (2-1) against Abha Club, which made his German coach, Matthias Jaissle, and his players subject to a lot of criticism.
Al-Ahly did not participate in the Saudi Super Cup during last season’s edition, in which 4 teams competed, namely Al-Hilal, Al-Nasr, Al-Ittihad and Al-Wehda, and the presence of “Al-Raqi” in the 2024-2025 season edition will represent an opportunity for Mahrez to win his first title in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Mahrez targets first win against Al Hilal
It is expected that Mahrez will be a key player in the formation. Al-Ahly Who will face Al-Hilal, tomorrow, Tuesday, in the semi-finals of the Saudi Super Cup for the 2024-2025 season at the “Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Sports City Stadium” in Abha.
The Algerian star will seek to lead “Al-Raqi” to overcome the “Al-Zaeem” obstacle, and qualify for the tournament final to meet the winner of the other semi-final between Al-Nasr and Al-Taawoun, but his mission will not be easy at all, as he will play against a team that he has never achieved any victory against.
Mahrez faced Al-Hilal twice in the Saudi Roshen League last season, and was defeated in both matches, as he lost with Al-Ahly with a score of (3-1) in the 11th round, and lost in the second match as well with a score of (2-1) in the 28th round, noting that the Algerian international did not score any goals against the capital club, and was satisfied with providing one decisive pass in the two matches, according to data from the website “Transfer Market“.
Mahrez will try to give his best in the semi-final against Al Hilal, whether by scoring or providing decisive passes, in order to lead Al Ahli to victory and kill two birds with one stone. The first is to achieve the first victory in his career against “Al Zaeem”, and the second is to advance to the Saudi Super Cup final and continue his journey towards winning his first title in Saudi football.
