“We prepared well and every player was fully focused and knew his duties for the game,” said Ibanez, who was named the Player of the Match. 

“I think the coach has great support from us players. He has given a lot for us and now it’s time for us to return the favour. 

“We started the year not how we wanted to start, now we want to finish differently and we will fight for that.”

The centre-back - together with Merih Demiral - had an awesome game as the duo worked in tandem to limit the mighty Al Hilal attack to just one shot on target, which Salem Al Dawsari netted with three minutes before half-time.

Ibanez is confident that Al Ahli will again rise to the occasion when they take to the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium pitch on Saturday against either Saudi Pro League rivals Al Nassr Club or Japan’s Kawasaki Frontale, with the Jeddah-based side seeking their first title. 

“We will prepare well for the final. We need to analyse each game (their potential rivals have played). We will prepare for everything.”