Al Wasl and Al Hilal aim to carry domestic success into Asian Champions League

UAE and Saudi double winners begin their continental campaigns on Tuesday

Al Wasl striker Fabio Lima celebrates scoring his side's second goal in a 3-0 win over Shabab Al Ahli at Zabeel Stadium on Sunday, May 26, 2024. All photos: Antonie Robertson / The National

Fabio Lima celebrates putting Al Wasl 2-0 ahead against Shabab Al Ahli.

The Al Wasl bench celebrates at the final whistle as they were crowned 2023/24 UAE Pro League champions.

Al Wasl players celebrate in front of their fans at Zabeel Stadium.

Al Wasl, in yellow, in action against Shabab Al Ahli in their final league match of the 2023/24 UAE Pro League season.

Al Wasl clinched the title by nine points ahead of Shabab Al Ahli.

A Shabab Al Ahli player goes on the attack against Shabab Al Ahli.

Al Wasl supporters cheer on their side.

Al Wasl forward Fabio Lima runs with the ball.

Al Wasl's Siaka Sidibe controls the ball against Shabab Al Ahli.

An Al Wasl supporter waves a flag during the match.

Al Wasl goalkeeper Khaled Al Senani catches the ball.

ADNOC UAE Pro League. Al Wasl vs Shabab Al Ahli at Zabeel Stadium. First Half. Antonie Robertson/The National

An Al Wasl fan watches his team in action against Shabab Al Ahli.

Al Wasl supporters in full voice.

Al Wasl and Al Hilal, the dominant league champions of the UAE and Saudi Arabia respectively, begin their campaigns in the remodelled Asian Champions League on Tuesday but with vastly different pedigrees in the continent's premium club competition.

Wasl ended a 17-year wait for an Adnoc Pro League title following a superb season that saw the Dubai club lose just one game and clinch the trophy with a nine-point cushion. To hammer home their domestic dominance, Wasl completed the double by securing the UAE President's Cup, destroying city rivals Al Nasr 4-0 in the final.

A club that was made globally famous more than a decade ago when Diego Maradona was appointed manager, neither the Argentine legend nor a string of successors were able to replicate the success of the 1980s and early '90s when Wasl won five championships in the span of 10 years.

That all changed with the arrival of Milos Milojevic last summer. The Serbian recruited smartly with the inspired free transfer signings of Argentina-born midfielder Nicolas Gimenez from Baniyas and Brazil-born forward Caio Canedo from Al Ain, both of whom are now naturalised and eligible to represent the UAE national team.

Gimenez produced a league-leading 14 assists, while experienced Swiss striker Haris Seferovic also arrived following five productive seasons at Benfica and contributed 11 goals in his debut campaign.

Milojevic quickly put together a well-oiled machine as Wasl's goal-scoring prowess was supported by the meanest defence in the Pro League.

The manager would therefore have been delighted to retain the bulk of his squad, led by star man Fabio Lima on the right wing; the UAE international had 27 league goal involvements last season (17 scored, 10 assisted). On the opposite flank, international colleague Ali Saleh remains one of the most exciting players of his generation.

The only major addition this summer came in the form of Serbian midfield enforcer Srdan Mijailovic, recruited from his former club Red Star Belgrade, and Milojevic will hope the continuity and familiarity within his squad can lead to improved performances in the Champions League following a disappointing recent record.

Wasl's finest campaign came in the 1992/93 Asian Club Championship – before it was later rebranded as the Asian Champions League – when they placed third. Two years later, the Dubai club reached the quarter-finals.

However, since the launch of the Champions League in 2002, Wasl have never gone beyond the group stage from three appearances. They begin this season's tournament with a trip to Uzbekistan to face Pakhtakor on Tuesday.

Hilal's pedigree is decidedly different. The Saudi giants are the most successful club in the tournament's history, winning the title four times, most recently in 2021, while reaching a further five finals.

Ominously for their Champions League rivals, their success was achieved before the remarkable transformation undertaken by Saudi Pro League clubs in the past 12 months, which has seen many of the world's top footballers swap Europe and South America for the kingdom.

The first chapter of this new era in Saudi football has been utterly dominated by Hilal. Bolstered by the arrival of striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, midfielders Sergej Milinkovic Savic and Ruben Neves, and winger Malcom – while also retaining many of the best local players – the Riyadh club swept all before them domestically, going unbeaten to win the Saudi Pro League by 14 points and securing the King's Cup for good measure.

Hilal were the leading contenders to complete the treble once they reached the Champions League quarter-finals last season but came up short against a brilliant Al Ain, who went on to win the title.

Jorge Jesus' side have been strengthened further this summer, with the arrival of Portuguese full-back Joao Cancelo from Manchester City – brought in following Saudi international Saud Abdulhamid's historic move to Italian club Roma – and exciting Brazilian youngster Marcos Leonardo.

However, Hilal remain without league record signing Neymar. The Brazilian forward, signed last summer from Paris Saint-Germain for €90 million, has been sidelined since last October when he suffered a cruciate ligament tear on international duty. He is not expected to return to competitive action until January.

Hilal have coped just fine in his absence and have started this season much the way they ended the last, cruising to the Saudi Super Cup title and winning their first three league games. The prolific Mitrovic already has nine goals in five games across both competitions and will be aiming to extend his form when Hilal travel to Qatar to take on Al Rayyan in their Champions League opener on Tuesday.

This season's Champions League will be the first of a new format that sees 12 clubs each from the West and East regions compete in separate leagues, with the top eight advancing to the Round of 16. Teams from the respective regions will start to play each other from the quarter-final stage onwards.