Shabab Al Ahli 0-0 Al-Hilal, AFC Champions League Elite Highlights: Visitors Drop Points For The First Time This Season

This is the start of our blog for the Hilali's match against Shabab Al Ahli at the Rashid Stadium in Dubai.

Although Karim Benzema is fully fit for full 90 minutes of ACL Football, but he is ineligible to play for Al-Hilal as one player cannot play for the two different clubs in the same stage.

Benzema has previously featured in 4 games for Al-Ittihad this season.

Al-Hilal remains a dominant force, currently topping the Saudi Pro League with 15 wins and 5 draws. After a brief slump of three consecutive draws, they returned to form with a crushing 6-0 victory over Al-Okhdood.

New signing Karim Benzema made an immediate impact, scoring a debut hat-trick.

Shabab Al Ahli is currently in dominant form, sitting at the top of the UAE Pro League with 38 points. They enter their AFC Champions League clash against Al-Hilal following a commanding 4–1 league victory over Al Sharjah on February 5. While their continental campaign has seen some turbulence, including a recent 4–2 loss to Al Sadd, they remain strong contenders for a Round of 16 berth.

Shabab Al Ahli: Almeqbaali (GK), K.S, Planic, Renan, Henrique, Juma, Afagh, Eid, Maksimovic, Bala and J.M

Al-Hilal: Patouillet (GK), Mari, Tambaki, Akcicek, Bouabre, Al-Hawsawi, Kanno, Hernandez, Darsi, Nunez and Mandash

The match kicks off at 9:30pm IST. The Shabab Al Ahli vs Al-Hilal, AFC Champions League 2025-26 Elite game will be live streamed on the FanCode app and website in India. It will not be telecast on any TV channel in the country.

In Saudi Arabia, it will be shown on beIN Sports HD 1, beIN SPORTS CONNECT, TOD, Shoof and in United Arab Emirates also on beIN Sports HD 1, beIN SPORTS CONNECT, TOD, Shoof.

In the two earlier Group B games of the day in AFC Champions League Elite, Nasaf Qarshi play out a 1-1 draw with Al-Shorta that puts the latter out of round of 16 contention, while the Al Wahda vs Al-Ahli game finishes goalless in Abu Dhabi. The UAE club as well as the Saudi titans had already qualified for the knockouts, prior to this match.

The match gets underway at the the Al-Rashid Stadium. Al-Hilal kicking from right to left and Shabab Al Ahli in the opposite direction in the first half.

Al-Hilal have started on the front foot as expected but their star studded playing XI, despite the absence of Karim Benzema, should be able to score first.

This has been a frustrating half for the visitors, who haven't been able to create enough chances in front of goal despite dominating ball possession.

The contest remains scoreless at halftime at Rashid Stadium. Al-Hilal has dominated possession but struggled to create clear-cut chances against a disciplined Shabab Al-Ahli defense.

With Karim Benzema ineligible for this stage, the Saudi giants have lacked their usual clinical edge in the final third.

The 0-0 score line is enough to describe just how important of a signing Karim Benzema is as Al-Hilal fail to even register a shot on target, smashing 5 attempts outside of the frame.

The unbeaten streak stays alive! It’s all over in Dubai, and while Al-Hilal keeps their invincible status, they’ll feel this was two points dropped. Despite monopolizing the ball, the Saudi giants looked surprisingly toothless without Karim Benzema’s clinical finishing.