Football fans in the Arab world, particularly in Saudi Arabia, are eagerly anticipating the exciting match between Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal next Friday, as part of the 32nd round of the Saudi Professional League. The "global" team will host their fierce rivals at "Al-Awwal Park" in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, in a match where the home team seeks to restore their pride after losing the first round 3-0. Additionally, "The Yellow of the Capital" faced defeat against Al-Hilal in the semi-finals of the Saudi Super Cup in the UAE, with a score of (1-2). On the other hand, Al-Zaim aims to continue its consecutive winning streak in the Saudi Professional League, which has reached 24 wins, becoming the first team to achieve this milestone in the history of the competition. Al-Hilal recently claimed the league title for the 19th time in its history, accumulating 89 points after defeating Al-Hazem on Saturday (4-1), meaning they will play the remaining three rounds merely to fulfill the fixtures. However, derby matches always carry their own significance.
**Striker Rivalry**
The Riyadh showdown will also feature a competition between Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo, the captain of Al-Nassr, and Serbian Aleksandar Mitrović, the striker of Al-Hilal. Ronaldo currently leads the league's top scorers with 33 goals, while Mitrović is seven goals behind, after 31 rounds. Despite Ronaldo's position at the top of the scorers' chart, he holds a negative memory from the first encounter against Al-Hilal, where things seemed stable for Al-Nassr, but Al-Hilal struck their opponent hard, winning 3-0. Mitrović managed to score two goals in that match, outperforming the Portuguese star, which is a debt Ronaldo will need to repay to the Serbian.
