Al-Nassr and its Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo stand between their fierce rival Al-Hilal and the achievement of the treble, as the two teams meet this evening, Friday, in the final of the Saudi Cup competition. The match will kick off at 9 PM Saudi time (6 PM GMT) at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah.
Al-Hilal aims to achieve the domestic treble after winning the Saudi Super Cup and following it up with the league title, which they finished undefeated, repeating their achievement from 2011. The team, coached by Portuguese Jorge Jesus, had hoped for a quadruple but saw their journey in the AFC Champions League end in the semi-finals at the hands of Al-Ain from the UAE, who defeated them 4-2 on aggregate, halting their record streak of 34 consecutive wins across all competitions.
Al-Hilal reached the Saudi Cup final after defeating Al-Ittihad 2-1, while Al-Nassr advanced by beating Al-Khaleej 3-1.
This meeting will be the fifth between the two teams this season in a fourth different competition, following two league encounters where Al-Hilal won 3-0 in the first leg and drew 1-1 in the second leg. Al-Hilal also won 2-0 in the Riyadh Season Cup and 2-1 in the Super Cup semi-final.
Al-Hilal has the upper hand over Al-Nassr in the Saudi Cup competition, having won six times compared to Al-Nassr's three victories, with three matches ending in a draw. Al-Hilal was the champion of the last edition of the Saudi Cup, winning against Al-Wahda on penalties, while Al-Nassr was eliminated in the semi-finals by the same team.
Al-Hilal ranks second in the list of teams with the most Saudi Cup titles (10 times) behind Al-Ahli (13), while Al-Nassr is fourth with six titles, the last of which was in 1990 when they defeated Al-Taawoun.
