Portuguese midfielder Ruben Neves responded to statements made by Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp, in which the latter confirmed that the players go to the Saudi league in order to retire.
Rubén Neves said in remarks after the match between Wydad Sportive of Morocco, which ended with a 2-1 victory for Al-Hilal for the third round of the group stage of the King Salman Cup for Arab Clubs, that the Saudi league is on its way to being one of the strongest leagues in the world.
The Al Hilal player stressed: “We didn’t come here to retire, we came to a very strong league. The Saudi league has many stars, which will make this league one of the strongest in the world.”
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Neves said that he and the players tried since the first match in the tournament to appear distinctive but did not succeed, pointing out that the team presented today a great match in which it achieved the deserved victory.
Neves scores Al Hilal’s winning goal over Morocco’s Wydad
Neves expressed his happiness to score the winning goal in order to delight the fans who have been supporting the team strongly since the beginning of their career in the tournament.
Qatar’s Al Sadd topped Group B with 7 points collected from winning two matches, drawing one, scoring 4 goals and conceding two goals.
Al Hilal qualified for the quarter-finals of the Arab Club Championship after booking second place in Group B with 4 points, collected from winning a match, drawing in the same and losing a match against Al Sadd, scoring 4 goals and conceding the same.
While Wydad finished third in the group with two points and officially left the competition after losing two meetings, drawing one, scoring two goals and conceding 3.
Al-Ahly Tripoli Club of Libya is bottom of Group B standings with two points collected from two draws, one loss, scoring a single goal and conceding two goals.