Benzema missed the penalty when the new club was eliminated

In the 79th minute, when the score was 1-3 in favor of Al Hilal, Al Ittihad was awarded a penalty because Romarinho was fouled by goalkeeper Al Hilal. However, on the 11m mark, Benzema hit the column and bounced off.

A failed penalty caused Benzema to break a streak of three consecutive goals for Al Ittihad. Previously, in the group stage, the former Real star regularly scored a goal in the wins against Esparance de Tunis 2-1, Club Sfaxien 1-0 and Al Shorta 2-1.

Different from the erratic form in the group stage, where he only earned four points from three games, Al Hilal entered the game very confidently against Al Ittihad. In the 14th minute, rookie Sergey Milinkovic-Savic headed the scoring for the third-place Saudi Pro League team last season. Goalkeeper Al Ittihad touched the ball, but could not prevent the goal.

Having the first table, Al Hilal continues to dominate in psychology. Four rookies Koulibaly, Ruben Neves, Milinkovic-Savic and Malcom integrated well with the new team. Meanwhile, Benzema and N'Golo Kante had difficulty turning the game around. In the 43rd minute, the referee gave Al Hilal an 11m free kick after goalkeeper Al Ittihad fouled Michael. Salem Al Dawsari successfully made it, making it 2-0.

Al Ittihad made some tactical changes after the break. Coach Nuno Santo substituted Sultan Fahran for Saleh Al Jaman. 56 minutes, the adjustments came into play. Striker Romarinho cushioned the ball to shorten the score to 1-2 after Igor Coronado's cross.

However, Al Hilal still plays better. With the ability to control the ball of Neves and Milinkovic-Savic, the blue team dominated in the midfield. In the 70th minute, Malcom headed home to raise the score to 3-1 for Al Hilal.

The remaining two quarter-finals between Al Shabab - Al Wahda and Al Nassr - Raja will take place on the evening of August 6.