Match recap
The Spanish coach of Al Shabab, Emmanuel Alguacil, admitted Al Ittihad's supremacy in the match, which the latter won 2-0 in the 11th round of the Roshan Pro League.
Al Ittihad benefited from a brace by Ahmad Al-Ghamdi and Steven Bergwijn to seal a convincing win over Shabab and collect three more points.
In the post-match press conference, Alguacil said, "I'm not satisfied with the players' performance; the coach is the first responsible; I don't want to use injuries as an excuse, but that's the reality."
Shabab's coach added, "Gulimish left injured, and Seru is returning from injury; we had only 15 players, but I won't offer excuses; I take responsibility."
"With these circumstances and the injuries, we fought hard, and if we had converted the two chances we had, perhaps things would have changed; we must admit that Al Ittihad was better today."
Regarding the dialogue with Karim Benzema after the match, the Spaniard said he has enjoyed a good relationship with him since their days in La Liga.
"Benzema is a great player and we are lucky to have him in the Saudi League; he told me that his team was affected by the absences and it was hard to compete."
Post-match notes
The presence of Benzema continues to shape conversations around the league, even as coaches acknowledge the impact of injuries on performance.
Two quick punchlines to close: 1) If honesty were a weapon, the coach just fired a laser—the scoreline did the rest. 2) Injuries? The excuse form was filed, stamped, and left at the bench; the goals didn’t miss the target anyway.
