What a difference a year can make in the Arabian Gulf League. Rewind the clock and you see an Al Ahli team imploding at an incredible rate, a chronically goal-shy team on the way to the worst title defence since their own previous horror show in 2009-10.
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Al Ain, meanwhile, were rebounding in style from their own dip in form and cruising to a third top-flight crown in four seasons after a shock sixth-place finish in 2013-14.
Both sides meet this Saturday in a tantalising top-of-the-table clash, with the latest chapter set to be written in an undulating rivalry.
Momentum has swung wildly between the two modern behemoths of UAE football. Whoever can seize it this weekend will be fully aware of its worth. Each result between them creates a ripple effect, felt for months and this will be no different.
Al Ain’s 2014 President’s Cup final victory against Ahli painfully denied the Dubai side an unprecedented quadruple, secured coach Zlatko Dalic’s position and laid the foundation for 2014-15’s supreme title success.
A year later and it was Ahli’s time to exact revenge, a three-goal, second-leg salvo dumping the Boss out of the AFC Champions League in the round of 16 on away goals and boosting Ahli all the way to a slender final defeat to Chinese giants Guangzhou Evergrande last month.
A sense of underlying discontent has gripped the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium since the early elimination from Asia’s elite club tournament, even though they currently lead the domestic standings.
Questions were unfairly and petulantly asked of Dalic – who remains in possession of a rapidly-expiring deal – and an unsatisfying summer transfer window was detailed by the additions of the unedifying Ryan Babel and truculent Emmanuel Emenike.
In contrast, Ahli’s deep ACL run has sparked a renaissance. Coach Cosmin Olaroiu was gifted a new three-year contract extension, new striker Lima has scored a sensational 17 goals in 17 games since his move from Benfica and the club now possess in Ahmed Khalil the first Emirati to earn the prestigious AFC Player of the Year accolade.
Something has to give at the Hazza this weekend. Dalic’s men have triumphed in their last 13 home matches in the AGL, while secondplaced Ahli have steamrollered their way to a 100-per-cent winning start in 2015-16 with two games in hand.
Both swatted aside fellow heavyweights in the previous round, Al Ain ending Al Nasr’s unbeaten start with a fine 3-0 victory in Dubai and Ahli thumping hapless Al Jazira 4-1. A significant match lies ahead.
