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Football can be stingy at times… but when it gives, it’s lavish
Almost a year ago, the emotions of Al Ahly and Paris Saint-Germain fans were mixed between sadness, fear and hope.
Fans of both teams were saddened by the complete absence of their continent’s most valuable title from their coffers and feared that this curse would continue for much longer and hoped to get to the finish line as quickly as possible.
Continental Curse
Before the start of last season, the coffers of Al-Ahly and Paris Saint-Germain were empty of their continents’ most valuable titles, the elite Asian Championship and the European Champions League.
Al-Ahli reached the AFC Champions League final twice in 1986 and 2012, but lost to Daewoo Royals and Ulsan Hyundai of South Korea respectively.
On the other hand, PSG reached the Champions League final once in 2020, but lost the title to Bayern Munich.
Local defeat
Al-Ahly was the only team not to win a continental title among the four main Saudi League teams, and tied for second with Al-Nasr never to have won the AFC Champions League title.
On the other hand, “Al-Hilal” had 4 Asian titles in its hands, and its neighbor and traditional rival “Al-Ittihat” was the only one from the city of Jeddah to win two titles.
As for Europe, Marseille were the only French team to ever win the Champions League, and it was a tournament the club’s fans were proud of, despite Paris Saint-Germain’s domestic dominance.
Bottom up
However, in just two seasons, “Al-Ahly” and “Paris Saint-Germain” turned the table of rivals and wrote an unforgettable story.
Al-Ahli won two consecutive elite league titles, equaling Al-Ittihad’s haul not only in number of titles but also in back-to-back wins, as the Tigers did when they won both titles in 2004 and 2005.
As for Paris Saint-Germain, they not only matched Marseille’s feat of being the second French team to win the Champions League, but also became the most successful French team with two consecutive titles.
Paris Saint-Germain became the second team to win two consecutive Champions League titles after Real Madrid, who won 5 consecutive titles in the 1950s and then 3 consecutive titles between 2016 and 2018.
Dream of continents
Now Al Ahly and Paris Saint-Germain are dreaming of new dreams next season, especially in the Confederations Cup, which they will participate in for the second season in a row.
“Paris Saint-Germain” dreams of winning the Confederations Cup for the second season in a row, becoming the second team to do so after Real Madrid.
Al Ahli, on the other hand, are dreaming of overcoming the barrier of the quarter-finals, which they failed to overcome last season after losing to the Egyptian pyramids.
