TITLE NUMBER TEN FOR AL ITTIHAD

In May, Al Ittihad celebrated a tenth Saudi Pro League (SPL) title with two games to spare of the 34-game season.

- John Duerden

It wasn't a perfect campaign, but they had luck and timing - plus Karim Benzema, N'Golo Kante and plenty of other talents on their side.

The Tigers, led by Laurent Blanc, showed resilience to bounce back from an early season 3-1 loss to the defending champions Al Hilal, and then rose to the occasion when it mattered, taking points from the other members of the “Big Four”. A 4-1 win over their nearest rivals Hilal in February was the turning point for both teams and, from that point, the trophy was always heading west from the capital to Jeddah.

Benzema missed much of his first season in Jeddah through injury, but was highly influential in his second. Although he was on the sidelines as Ittihad beat Al Raed 3-1 on May 15 to clinch the championship, the French striker more than played his part with 21 goals and nine assists in the league (two more goal contributions than his old team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo, whose numbers were bolstered by scoring seven penalties).