Inzaghi’s benching spree continues: Leonardo sidelined as Al Hilal eye Saudi clash
12 February 2026
Context
The Italian coach shocks his Brazilian striker with a fresh decision.
The Italian manager, Simone Inzaghi, head coach of Al Hilal, continues to press his case against Brazilian forward Marcus Leonardo ahead of the clash with Al Ettifaq in the Saudi Pro League.
Al Hilal will host Al Ettifaq on Friday at the Kingdom Arena in the 22nd round of the Saudi top flight.
According to the Saudi daily Al Yaom, Inzaghi decided to exclude Leonardo from the matchday squad.
This comes despite the forward being locally registered in the latest list among foreign players over age, ahead of Uruguayan Darwin Núñez.
Leonardo remains sidelined from the Al Hilal squad, after this pattern continued in the Asian Champions League clash with Shabab Al-Ahli last Monday.
Before the Asian meeting, Leonardo had logged only eight minutes in his last three games, underscoring the difficulty of his situation within the Saudi club.
Leonardo is, for now, still the club's top scorer this season with 14 goals across all competitions.
On the bench, the saga continues to spark talk—fans joke that the bench is the real star of the show.
Punchline 1: If goals paid rent, Leonardo would own the stadium by now.
Punchline 2: Inzaghi benches a striker and still tries to sell him the front-row seats to the bench the next day.
