AFC Champions League: Al-Rusafa Police vs Al-Ittihad Jeddah! 6.88 million vs 146 million? The away team’s fighting spirit is highly questionable.

Today’s first match to discussis the AFC Champions League elite clash: Al-Rusafa Police vs Al-Ittihad Jeddah!

Originally, this was the most uneven matchup among all today’s games,as the difference in team values clearly shows: 6.88 million vs 146 million, which is over a 20-fold gap!

Generally speaking, when the value difference exceeds five times, the gap is very noticeable;

over ten times usually means a complete domination. But here it is a 20 times difference... that’s somewhat frightening.

However,due to the special circumstances in the Saudi Pro League, Al-Ittihad Jeddah might not be willing to give their all.

Officially, Al-Ittihad has confirmed that Benzema, Bellvin, Fakihi, and several other players will definitely miss tonight’s match.

First of all, this results in a significant loss of combat strength.

Benzema is the team captain, last season’s Saudi Pro League MVP, with a combined total of 30 goals and assists—the highest in Saudi Arabia—and he was the main contributor to Al-Ittihad’s double championship.

Bellvin is the strongest offensive player for Al-Ittihad this season, with a total of 4 goals and assists, leading the team.

Not to mention others, just these two being absent raises serious doubts about Al-Ittihad’s attacking capabilities.

Moreover, Al-Ittihad relies heavily on Benzema.

Last season, Al-Ittihad faced a well-known“Benzema problem”because former coach Blanco could never find a suitable replacement; without Benzema commanding and anchoring the attack on the field, their offense was chaotic.

Although the coach has changed,Conceição is still new and adapting,so it’s unlikely he can solve such a tough issue immediately,you can see from the last game that almost no changes were made; it was still Blanco’s tactics and the performance was poor,and now with Benzema absent today, it will probably be even harder.

Additionally, many Al-Ittihad players are dealing with physical problems, fatigue, or minor injuries that need monitoring. Therefore, Conceição said the starting lineup for tonight will only be confirmed after the final training session.

In fact, I strongly suspect he might hold back tonight,because the next two matches for Al-Ittihad are extremely important.

Let’s look at Al-Ittihad’s upcoming schedule:On the 25th, they face Al-Hilal, and on the 29th, they play Al-Nassr!

Both matches are very significant; facing Al-Hilal is like a national derby, as they are the only Asian team worth over 200 million euros, the Saudi spending king, and a top title contender.

Last season, Al-Ittihad benefited from competing only on one front without the AFC Champions League, edging out Al-Hilal to win the championship. This season, it’s probably not going to be that easy, and they will definitely fight hard at home.

The match against Al-Nassr on the 29th is also crucial.

For the team, it’s a revenge match,because former coach Blanco was dismissed by them at the end of September, and the Super Cup final in August was also lost to Al-Nassr, regrettably missing out on the title.

For Conceição himself, Al-Nassr’s coach Jesus is his archrival; the two have faced each other 19 times before with intense rivalry, so he definitely wants to compete fiercely.As for Benzema... when it comes to matches against Cristiano Ronaldo, how could his motivation be weak?Those who understand know what I mean.

Regarding this AFC Champions League... its priority is not that high.

Firstly, the format is quite strange, with qualification being very easy; last season, Melbourne Victory advanced by winning only one game...

Secondly, the prize money is too small, negligible for Saudi teams with big budgets, offering no real incentive.

Therefore, in Conceição’s contract, the main requirement is league performance; for example, failure to finish in the top three could lead to unconditional dismissal.So naturally, he will focus more on the league.

Just look at his training arrangements,which mainly focus on recovery,with no specific preparation targeting Al-Rusafa Police, making his fighting spirit quite questionable.

Al-Rusafa Police is different; they take this match very seriously, even playing two friendly matches specifically for this game.

Their lineup is very healthy, with only one player, Ahmed, injured; all other key players are available.

That’s not all, they also have various off-field tactics, such as refusing to host the Al-Ittihad delegation and planning fireworks and smoke during the match, showing strong determination overall. After all, the AFC Champions League prize is a windfall for them.

For the players, if they perform well, they might attract attention from Saudi clubs, which could be a life-changing opportunity.

So, although there is over a 20-fold difference in team values, considering all these objective factors, can Al-Rusafa satisfy their fans? What do you think? I hope they at least avoid defeat!

Alright, for today’s other matches, I will still send text commentary to everyone tonight. If anything is unclear, feel free to ask me. “Watch football and understand it” — see you then!

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