11 May 2024, Aleksandar Mitrovic’s brace helped Al-Hilal to defeat Al-Hazm 4-1 and clinch the Saudi Pro League 2023-24 title with three games left to play. They are unbeaten (29 wins, 2 draws) in the league, after an underwhelming campaign last year when they finished third behind Al-Ittihad and Al-Nassr.
Cristiano Ronaldo was already there at Al-Nassr, but ahead of the 2023-24 season, many proven European stars joined these Saudi teams. Karim Benzema, another Real Madrid legend, joined Al-Ittihad, the champions, while Al-Hilal went through a major overhaul. They brought quality players like Neymar, Malcom, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Ruben Neves, Kalidou Koulibaly, and Aleksandar Mitrovic.
Last season, they scored 54 goals in 30 league games. With goal-scoring an issue, they took a chance on Mitrovic, the Serbian, bringing him in from Fulham for a club-record fee of $64 million. Mitrovic’s goal-scoring contributions has shown that he is worth every penny. He has scored 37 goals along with 8 assists in 40 games across all tournaments. An Al-Hilal, known as The Blue Waves, have scored 95 goals so far in 31 matches.
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Mitrovic vs Ronaldo
AFC Champions League
Mitrovic missed both the legs in the semi-final against Al-Ain due to a hamstring injury and that might have cost Al-Hilal an AFC Champions League final spot. Still, he scored eight goals along with two assists and is currently the second-highest scorer in the tournament.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo scored three goals in the group stage along with one assist. In the round of 16, he scored a goal in both legs. Against Al-Ain in the first leg of the quarter-final, he did not score and his goal in the second leg was not enough for the Knights of Najd to qualify for the semi-final.
Saudi Pro League
Having played three more games, Ronaldo has managed more goals and assists. But, when it comes to consistency, the Serbian just edges it. From October 20, 2023, to February 18, 2024, he was involved in goals in 14 consecutive league games (14 goals, 4 assists).
Ronaldo has scored four hat-tricks this season, but those came against relatively weaker or mid-table teams. Mitrovic’s hat-trick came against Al-Ittihad. Al-Hilal won that away game 4-3. They also defeated Al-Nassr 3-0 at home, with Mitrovic netting twice.
King’s Cup
Both have managed three goals each in this competition and will now play against each other in the final. However, Ronaldo scored a brace in the semi-final clash against Al-Khaleej (11th in the league), while Mitrovic did not find the net against Al-Ittihad in their semi-final clash.
Saudi Super Cup
The Blue Waves won this trophy by defeating Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr (2-1) in the semi-final and Benzema’s Al-Ittihad (4-1) in the final. Due to his hamstring injury, Mitrovic missed both those games. As for Ronaldo, he couldn’t turn the tide in the semi-final.
Mitrovic has already won the league in his debut season, while Ronaldo is yet to lift the biggest domestic honour. The Serbian has a chance to win another trophy when they face Al-Nassr in the King’s Cup final. But before that, on May 17, Ronaldo and his men will host Al-Hilal in the league.
After making a comeback from injury, Mitrovic has scored four goals in three games while Ronaldo also has four goals from the last two games, including a hat-trick in the league. A huge battle awaits, but in terms of success, impact, and consistency, Mitrovic might be the player of the season, ahead of the legendary Ronaldo.
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