As 2023 draws to a close, Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo is the year’s top scorer. This was Ronaldo’s 18th Saudi Pro League goal of the season, which added to the 54 goals he scored for Al Nasr and the 54 goals of Portuguese leaders Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappé, who scored against Al Taoun on Saturday. This solidified their lead as a duo. Ronaldo also ended the year scoring in four consecutive league games and eight of the last 10. But what does that mean in terms of goal quality?
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Kane plays for Bayern Munich and Mbappe for Paris Saint-Germain, both clubs in Europe’s top five leagues and competing to win the Champions League. Domestically, both teams are dominant in the league, but will that be any more impactful than Ronaldo’s goal against Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia?
Even in terms of goals scored, Al Nasr are seven points behind league leaders Al Hilal, but both teams have a similar number of goals scored and that is due to their defense, which has allowed 23 goals this season. Al Nasr also participates in the AFC Champions League, but it is far from the same level as in the UEFA continental competition. In smaller leagues, it’s easy to look down on numbers and sometimes lead to overlooking players who can contribute to the team, but in Saudi Arabia’s case, the domestic league is similar to America’s Major League Soccer.
The Saudi Professional League, founded in 1976, was originally founded with eight teams and has now grown to 18 teams, but the disparity between the top and bottom teams could not be any greater. The Saudi Public Investment Fund has taken control of four of the league’s founding members: al-Ahly, al-Ittihad, al-Hilal, and al-Nasr, giving them nearly unlimited funds to spend on: Became. He attracts players like Sadio Mane and Karim Benzema. Ronaldo’s arrival into the league from Manchester United almost a year ago helped make this happen, but it also means there are essentially four super teams in the league dominating play.
They occupy the top six spots in the league, and the top three scoring teams are all PIF-owned teams, while the two teams have conceded almost 50 goals in 18 games. Saudi Arabia’s domestic soccer still has a long way to go, but if other teams can acquire even half the strength of the PIF-managed teams, the entire league will explode around the world.
As long as there is a gap, numbers like Ronaldo’s will be marked with an asterisk. Four of the league’s top five scorers come from PIF-run clubs, and the top two, Ronaldo and Aleksandar Mitrovic, have become potential players for the league’s breakthrough. Georges-Kevin Nkoudou has broken into the PIF monopoly with 14 goals for Damac, but more parity will be needed in this league to bring the scoring on par with the Bundesliga and Ligue 1. Due to Ronaldo’s influence, that may not happen. –The future is too far away.
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