AUSTRALIA: Fabrizio Romano is rarely wrong.
The gold standard on reporting on football’s off-field wheeling and dealing, when Romano says something is happening it is usually just a matter of when, not if.
So when, on Jan. 17, he posted that Al-Ahli had agreed “in principle” to appoint Massimiliano Allegri, and Gabriele Cioffi as interim coach until June, it seemed certain that incumbent Matthias Jaissle would go.
This came on the back of a disappointing start to the season in which they won just three of their first nine games, to all but end their title hopes before the season had even reached the one-third mark.
But at the point of Romano’s postings, Al-Ahli managed to turn their form around, going on to win seven out of nine and surging up the table.
But it seemed like it was too little, too late for the 37-year-old German.
This story, however, has another twist. The Al-Ahli faithful were having none of it. For them, the failings were with those above Jaissle.
So when word came out he was to be moved on, they mobilized to support him. Diehard fans picketed outside Al-Ahli’s training ground, with one banner directed at senior management reading: “Enough failure … LEAVE!”
Within two days of Romano’s tweet, Al-Ahli confirmed that Jaissle would remain as head coach “with full support from the management to achieve the club’s aspirations and future ambitions.”
It was quite an about-face, but one that showed the positive power fans can have when they mobilize in the right way.
Just over three months on from that saga, it is hard to imagine this Al-Ahli side without the German at the helm.
He has guided them to the final of the AFC Champions League Elite courtesy of a demolition of Al-Hilal, the standard bearers of Asian club football, in the semifinal on Tuesday night.
The scoreline was 3-1 but make no mistake this was a demolition and a vindication for the fans and Jaissle.
When he demanded the club sign a left-winger in the summer to replace Allan Saint-Maximin, the club instead signed a striker, in this case Ivan Toney.
Jaissle made his frustrations known through the media, and reiterated his desires ahead of the winter window in January
Twelve days after his position was assured, the club signed Brazilian winger Galeno from FC Porto, which has transformed their season.
Prior to Galeno’s arrival, Al-Ahli had scored 32 goals in 18 games at about 1.78 per game on average. Since the Brazilian’s arrival, they have netted 28 in just 11 games at 2.55 a game.
Galeno gave the squad more balance and structure, and transformed their attacking threat. It is no coincidence that Toney has scored 12 of his 19 goals this season since Galeno’s arrival.
It is what the German knew would happen all along, but his demands to those above him were falling on deaf ears.
Their performance at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium on Tuesday night was about as close to perfection as Jaissle could have imagined.
Right from the opening whistle, spurred on by the very fans who had saved his job months earlier, Al-Ahli took control.
Their forward pressure was relentless, which was not a surprise coming from a coach schooled in the Red Bull philosophy. Riyad Mahrez pulled the strings as always, and Galeno buzzed about creating havoc.
And Roberto Firmino, consigned to playing in just the ACL Elite after not being registered for the league after Galeno’s arrival, looked every bit the motivational leader wearing the captain’s armband.
At the back, meanwhile, Merih Demiral and Ibanez were ferocious in defense and closed down the spaces in which Al-Hilal’s attacking threats normally like to operate.
While it finished 3-1, it could easily have been more after Al-Ahli hit the woodwork three times, had two goals disallowed and saw a penalty save, all in the second half.
This was a humbling for Al-Hilal who only days earlier had dished out a similar lesson to Gwangju FC in the quarterfinal.
“It was a fantastic evening. I’m so, so proud,” Jaissle told reporters after the game.
“The performance from each player, the team, and the unit — and by unit I also mean the fans in the stadium — it was a totally deserved win.
“These games are usually decided by details. There are some strengths and weaknesses in each team. We tried to identify the best ways to exploit them and they worked perfectly.
“We handled it marvelously and everybody did it in a brilliant way and we managed to achieve a great result. I’m really happy with the way the goals were scored.
“Now we focus on the final. Now we are there and we have to make the final step successful as well.”
As Jaissle and the Al-Ahli faithful celebrated wildly after the game, the dramas of January felt like another lifetime.
