RIYADH — French coach Laurent Blanc admitted the challenges of playing against Al Hilal, describing them as the best team in the Middle East following Al Ittihad's 3-1 defeat in the Saudi Clasico. In a post-match press conference, Blanc said: "We played a match against a very strong opponent with a good coach. Al Hilal is a stable team that has maintained consistency for nearly a season. We made some mistakes, and in my opinion, if we hadn't conceded those two early goals, the situation might have been different." He noted that Al Hilal aimed to secure an early victory and succeeded, adding, "They played better, and that's the truth. It's not just our team that has lost to Al Hilal; everyone in the league has lost to them. In my view, Al Hilal is the best team in the Saudi league." Blanc emphasized the need to recognize Al Hilal's superiority, stating, "They are better than many teams in the Saudi league. It's easy to talk about wanting to win against Al Hilal, but doing so on the field is very difficult. I'm upset about the loss, but this is the reality." Regarding his team's lineup, he mentioned, "We made two changes for this match. I believe that Mohannad Al-Shanqeeti is better defensively than Fawaz Al-Suqoor, and we put Abdulilah Al-Amri alongside Mitrovic for physicality; my decision-making was based on that." Blanc acknowledged that his team lacked the necessary aggression, saying, "We need a lot of work. Today, we saw the differences, and we must recognize this. It's wise to acknowledge that we need to improve. Personally, I expected us to fight harder with the ball, but we lacked aggression, and I'm not happy or satisfied. I congratulate Al Hilal; they have a cohesive team, while we are still a group in the early stages of working together. We must play collectively, and today we did not play as a unit and failed to return to the flow of the match."
