Since Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund took over the running of four of the country’s biggest clubs in June 2023, a galaxy of the world’s very brightest stars have populated the league.
There have been global brands like Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar. Goal machines like Karim Benzema and Ivan Toney.
Sadio Mane, Joao Felix, Kingsley Coman and Ruben Neves all continue to give the Saudi Pro League (SPL) increased credibility.
But its ultimate big-match player is turning out to be a winger whose international football pedigree amounts to eight minutes off the bench for Brazil.
Two years ago, the Real Madrid forward Rodrygo was substituted in the 82nd minute of a prestige friendly for Brazil against Spain at the Bernabeu Stadium.
In his place came a lesser-known winger, plying his trade in the Portuguese league, called Galeno.
He has not played for them since, meaning as that friendly was a non-competitive fixture, he is still eligible to play for other countries. He is also a naturalised Portuguese citizen.
The best part of a year later, he was on his way to play for Al Ahli Saudi in Jeddah. His transfer fee to switch to Jeddah might have been hefty – it was reported to be €50 million ($59m). But it scarcely registered among all the other names that signed contracts with PIF at the time.
Clearly, Galeno’s celebrity is not even in the same stratosphere as Ronaldo or Neymar. And yet the 28-year-old forward from a small town in Brazil’s northeast is rapidly putting together the most enviable catalogue of major contributions in the history of Saudi Arabian club football.
In many ways, he is emblematic of the club he represents. Solid but unspectacular in the league – he has scored four goals in 34 games while Ahli have struggled to scale the heights of the SPL – he has been quite the opposite in continental competition.
When it has mattered in the AFC Champions League Elite over the past two seasons, Galeno has mattered.
Playing in centralised finals on home soil in Jeddah, Ahli have lit up the business stages of Asia’s top competition. And no one has done more to beautify what they have done on the field than him.
In last year’s final, he broke the stubborn resistance of Japan’s Kawasaki Frontale with a fine, curling strike from distance. It set them on the path to the trophy.
At the first opportunity in this year’s finals, he almost exactly reprised that goal – at the same end of the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium – to spark a comeback against Johor Darul Ta’zim in the quarter-final.
In Monday night’s semi-final, his side found themselves similarly mired, 1-0 down, against an outstanding Vissel Kobe side.
When Ahli needed a hero, they knew where to look. With the likes of Toney, Riyad Mahrez and Franck Kessie all in front of him in the box, searching desperately for that equaliser, the ball found its way to Galeno, all on his own, 30 yards from goal.
Again, he arrowed the ball perfectly into the top left-hand corner of Vissel’s goal.
Three massive games. Three wonder strikes. Not bad for a one-cap wonder.
“I am always motivated to do well for my team, no matter what position the team is in,” Galeno said. “My goal is always to help the team in any kind of games. But I'm happy to be reminded of all these achievements.”
Maybe there will come a point when Ahli’s luck runs out, and even Galeno will not be able to save them.
They are certainly going about defending this title the hard way. Twice now they have been down before coming back. Against Vissel, at least, it seemed there was no way back. And yet they are still in it, battling to defend their title of Asia’s best side.
“It’s never going to be easy in this competition,” said Mattias Jaissle, Ahli’s German coach.
“Trust me; I am not telling the players, ‘Take it easy, you can take it easy in the first minutes and we can concede a goal, then wake up.’
“We have a clear match plan and they always perform in the best possible way from the referee’s first whistle. But it’s football. There is also an opponent who wants to win.
“But I see it more positively. We are now in the final again, and that is already a huge success.”
