Al Hilal sit top of the Saudi Pro League with 27 points from 10 games, two clear of Al Nassr, after grinding out a 3-2 victory at Al Qadsiah in Matchday 11. The win mattered beyond the three points. It was the club's first victory at Al Qadsiah's ground since December 2020, ending a run of a defeat and a draw there across the previous two seasons. Gabriel Martinelli opened the scoring and Ruben Neves added a second before Sergej Milinkovic-Savic sealed it late, though the hosts pulled one back to make for an uncomfortable finish.

The bigger concern coming out of that match is the physical state of the squad. Neves spoke openly after the game about exhaustion, revealing the team had spent 25 hours travelling by bus in recent weeks after Houthi attacks forced airport closures across Saudi Arabia. That strain is compounding an already congested schedule, and two players picked up injuries during the Qadsiah match.

Frustration inside the club runs deeper still. Al Hilal had previously asked the Asian Football Confederation to postpone their own AFC Champions League Elite fixture against Al-Sadd due to the same regional disruptions, only to be refused and told to travel by road. When the AFC then postponed Al Nassr's match against Al Wasl on logistical grounds, the club's anger became public. The Saudi Football Federation issued a statement backing Al Nassr in that dispute, a position Al Hilal views as inconsistent given their own rejected request. Up next is an AFC Champions League Elite trip to face Al-Shamal on October 27.