Al Ittihad begin the 2026-27 season with a significant boost after beating Al-Jazira 4-1 in Abu Dhabi to secure their place in the AFC Champions League Elite, ending a nervy qualification process that their fifth-place Saudi Pro League finish had made necessary. Goals from Steven Bergwijn (two), Hossam Awwad and Marwan Al-Sahafi delivered the result, and the club can now look forward to continental competition for the first time since their quarter-final exit last season.

The win arrived against a backdrop of real tension inside the club. New head coach Jens Weisang, the 38-year-old German appointed after Sergio Conceicao's departure, is reported to be angry and shocked by what he has found at the club since taking charge, with sources describing a collision between the coach and the executive management just weeks into his tenure. That friction adds uncertainty to what is already a rebuild season under a manager with limited top-level experience, despite his AFC Champions League 2 title with Gamba Osaka.

The squad situation is complicated further by a serious knee ligament injury to one first-team player reported before the Al-Jazira match, and by the likely departure of French winger Moussa Diaby, who appears close to joining Bayer Leverkusen. The club also signed Senegalese midfielder Dion Lopy from Almeria for around 19 million euros, a deal that generated controversy of its own. With the Saudi Pro League season opening at home against Al Kholood on August 15, Weisang needs results quickly to ease the pressure already building around his project.