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#ACLElite | R16 : Al Hilal SFC (KSA) 3 (2) - (4) 3 Al Sadd SC (QAT)

R16: Al Hilal SFC (KSA) 3 (2) - (4) 3 Al Sadd SC (QAT)

Jeddah: Al Sadd SC advanced to the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League Elite 2025/26™ with a 4-2 win on penalties after their Round of 16 tie against Al Hilal SFC ended 3-3 after extra-time on Monday.
Qatar’s Al Sadd amazingly came from behind three times at Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Sports City Stadium before completing the job against Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal in the shootout to set up a last eight tie with Japan’s Vissel Kobe on Thursday. 
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Al Sadd - who were confirmed as the Qatar Stars League 2025/26 champions prior to the start of the match following Al Shamal’s 2-0 defeat to Qatar SC - began in confident fashion as they looked to take advantage of an Al Hilal side missing the towering presence of Kalidou Koulibaly in defence.

Mohamed Camara’s swerving shot from distance in the third minute forced Yassine Bounou to parry the ball out before the Moroccan custodian rushed out of his goal line to close down Roberto Firmino as Al Hilal were kept on high alert early in the game.
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The early Al Sadd pressure, however, died off as Al Hilal worked their way into the game and eventually found the breakthrough in the 29th minute, thanks to Theo Hernandez’s perseverance in chasing down an overhit Sultan Mandash pass, with his cutback then swept home by Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.
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The lead only lasted seven minutes as a miscued Ali Lajami header enabled Romain Saiss to flick the ball towards Claudinho, who lifted it past the advancing Bounou to send the tie into the break on level terms.

Bounou was called into action three minutes after the interval when Augustin Soria’s curling cross from the right was met with a powerful header from Saiss but it was straight at the Al Hilal goalkeeper.
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A moment of brilliance from Ruben Neves in the 55th minute saw Al Hilal retake the lead when the Portuguese midfielder - despite being marked by two players - picked out Salem Al Dawsari’s run into the box with the latter coolly sending the ball into the bottom corner.
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Al Sadd showed their powers of recovery for the second time, netting the equaliser three minutes later when Rafael Mujica latched onto Claudinho’s line break pass to slam the ball past Bounou from an acute angle.
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An inspired substitution by Al Hilal tactician Simone Inzaghi to bring Marcos Leonardo on for Mandash in the 65th minute paid off just two minutes later as the forward smashed a low shot past Meshaal Barsham from a Karim Benzema cutback as the Saudi pro League side took the lead for the third time.
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Al Sadd bounced back to draw level again when a quick throw five minutes later saw Soria bursting through on the right, with his cross nodded home by Firmino to send the tie into an additional 30 minutes. 

The closest either side came to winning the tie in extra time was through Pablo Mari in the 114th minute when the Al Hilal defender pounced on a deflection inside the box but his strike curled just wide of the far post.

Firmino failed to convert Al Sadd's opening spot-kick but misses from Benzema and Saimon Bouabre saw the Qatari side advancing, with captain Akram Afif tucking home the winning penalty.

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