Nine minutes was all it took. Nine minutes to put a semi-final tie beyond reach, to push one side closer to their Asian Champions League dream and to crush another.
Nine manic minutes in Riyadh. Al Ain had entered the first leg of last season’s last-four encounter with Al Hilal on the back of a 14-match unbeaten run, buoyant and seemingly bounding towards the final.
They departed Saudi Arabia bowed and broken.
They would never recover from their collapse at the King Fahd Stadium. They simply could not. Three goals in nine minutes had done it, had outdone them. Nasser Al Shamrani twice, Thiago Neves once.
In the midst of the mayhem and in front of the baying, 57,000-strong Saudi support, Khalid Essa had been sent off. So 10 men emerged from the nine minutes with little left to cling to.
Defeated 3-0 in that initial match, Al Ain eventually exited the competition 4-2 on aggregate. So close to a first Champions League final in nine years, they had fallen agonisingly short. The damage, though, had been inflicted during that brief, helter-skelter spell around the hour mark in Riyadh.
Al Ahli would be wise to take heed. On Tuesday night, they contest the first leg of a Champions League semi-final for the first time in their history. Just like 12 months ago, Hilal stand in the way. Just like Al Ain, Ahli must negotiate an opening assignment at the King Fahd Stadium.
But negotiate it better.
Ahli are arguably better equipped. Kwon Kyung-won, the reverted midfielder, will be a sturdier presence in defence. Majed Hassan has grown in influence and offers further protection just in front. Ismail Al Hammadi and Ahmed Khalil are in form thus far this season. Everton Ribeiro and Rodrigo Lima carry a genuine goal threat.
Yet Ahli’s ace in the pack may be in the dugout. Cosmin Olaroiu, their Romanian coach, is rightfully regarded as one of the region’s finest tacticians, as his CV attests: titles in the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. As a former manager of Hilal, he understands what lies ahead.
In less than two years with the Riyadh club, Olaroiu won the Saudi League and back-to-back Crown Prince Cups. He is still respected there, revered even. His stock remains so high, in fact, that he was asked to coach the Saudi Arabia national team at January’s Asian Cup. Seven of his squad in Australia represent Hilal now.
Heading into the habitually hostile King Fahd Stadium, and up against the side he labels “the best in Asia”, Olaroiu gets it, gets them. He knows Hilal, their strengths and weaknesses, what makes them tick. Last season, Ahli drew twice with Hilal in the group stages. They squandered a 2-0 lead in Riyadh to finish 2-2.
Against former employees again this season, he guided Ahli past Al Ain in the last 16 and then proclaimed: “I know many, many things about them, and so all the game our play was difficult for them to win against us.”
Hilal are a formidable foe, though, especially on their patch. Talented but tetchy, they are the masters of mastering the situation. There will be provocation, but Ahli must focus on the task at hand, marry courage with caution. Often combustible, Olaroiu needs to show restraint, too, to lead by example so his side emerge with something to hold on to.
At this level, Hilal are experienced: they are unbeaten at home in Asia in two years, winning 10 of their 12 matches. Ahli, never further than the groups until this season, are not.
Nine minutes last year conveyed how quickly Champions League ambitions can unravel.
On Tuesday night, Ahli have to manage 90. Do that, and they will go into the return leg in three weeks’ time with that dream still intact.
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