Benzema is crowned the best with Cristiano Ronaldo as a witness

T he Saudi League will experience its first big clash of the season on Friday night. The reigning champions, Benzema 's Al Ittihad , will face Cristiano Ronaldo 's Al Nassr and... Joao Felix . The two leaders, with a full house of victories , face each other with different feelings and seeing how the rest of the teams are not able to keep up with the competitive pace with which they have started the championship.

It is not and will not be just another match, nor just another classic between two of the historic Saudi Arabian soccer teams. It will be a clash between two teammates , with a relationship of respect and admiration, but who will once again be rivals on the pitch. Benzema already knows what it is like to touch glory in his Saudi experience. The conquest of the league and cup last season proves it. On this occasion, he arrives at the match without having scored in the championship yet.

Benzema will take centre stage in the pre-match party that La Liga has prepared, as the Frenchman will show off in front of his home fans and Cristiano Ronaldo the trophy that recognises him as the best player of last season . He will be crowned as number one in front of his former team-mate.

945 goals and counting

Cristiano Ronaldo and the Al Nassr management, however, have had to overhaul the club, the squad and the bench to start thinking that their record of titles can continue to grow, something that has not happened since his arrival in Saudi Arabia . The Portuguese is already on 945 goals , so the countdown has already begun.

In this change, the figure of a footballer who does not go unnoticed by anyone emerges, none other than Joao Felix, who seems to have fitted in wonderfully in his new environment , although it is also true that in his last experiences the same thing happened to him at Chelsea, Barcelona and Milan

So far, all the signs are positive, and not only because of the nine points his team already has and the goals he is scoring. He feels identified with what he is doing and happy to see that the pressure is directed towards a more bossy Cristiano Ronaldo than ever, acting as a leader on and off the pitch.

Continuity through change

Friday's match is the big acid test for this reborn Al Nassr. So far, it has been an offensive festival, without calibrating its midfield and defense to one hundred percent . Jorge Jesus, former coach of Al Hilal and eternal rival of Al Nassr, likes to squeeze his players at the beginning, and he is doing it well

The champion will put them to the test in an atmosphere that speaks of a full house where Barcelona and Real Madrid played the last Spanish Super Cup , at the King Abdullah Sports City, which is the second largest stadium in Saudi Arabia, and where 58,000 spectators will fill the stadium and give color and atmosphere to a great match, a European-style Clasico.