da dobrowin： Without the five-time Ballon d'Or winner, Al-Nassr lost to Al-Ettifaq on Monday, but other new arrivals enjoyed strong Pro League debuts
da pinnacle： Following the influx of a number of global superstars over the past couple of months, the new Saudi Pro League season got under way this past weekend. Never has excitement been higher around a division that, while regularly competitive, has previously made little impact on fans globally, with supporters keen to see some of the new-look teams in action.
It was an opening round to forget, however, for Al-Nassr, who were beaten 2-1 by Steven Gerrard's Al-Ettifaq on Monday. Without captain Cristiano Ronaldo, who suffered a minor injury in the final of the Arab Club Champions Cup just 48 hours earlier, Luis Castro's side saw their hopes of making a winning start to their title bid evaporate, despite taking an early lead through Sadio Mane.
The result leaves Al-Nassr towards the bottom of the early table, but the same can't be said for their presumed title rivals. Al-Ittihad, Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli all made winning starts, with some of the recent foreign imports making immediate impacts for their new clubs.
GOAL breaks down the winners & losers from the first round of Saudi Pro League action…
Getty ImagesWINNER: Roberto Firmino
Roberto Firmino was a free agent following his departure from Liverpool, and as such promises to be one of the bargain signings of the Saudi Pro League off-season, especially if he can maintain the heroics of his league debut for Al-Ahli.
The Brazil international netted a hat-trick to secure a 3-1 win over Al-Hazm on Thursday, becoming just the second player in club history to net a treble on their debut, following in the footsteps of Omar Al Somah, who did so in 2014.
The hat-trick wasn't the most stunning of Firmino's career as all three strikes came from within the six-yard box, but he won't have cared, and neither will Al-Ahli's boisterous supporters, who best get used to seeing their new captain's karate-kick celebration.
A shout out to those fans, too, who created a superb atmosphere as they celebrated their return to the top-flight after promotion last season. Firmino spoke of the "goosebumps" they gave him ahead of kick-off, and the Al-Ahli fans did not let up throughout the whole game.
AdvertisementLOSER: Edouard Mendy
It wasn't all good news for Al-Ahli, though, as new goalkeeper Edouard Mendy suffered a debut to forget after gifting Al-Hazm a way back into the match with a fatal error.
With his side leading 2-0 following an early double from Firmino, the ex-Chelsea goalkeeper looked to play out from the back, only to fire a pass into the feet of opposition forward Vinicius Barbosa, who proceeded to lob the ball back over Mendy's head and into the net.
It's not the first time we have seen the Senegal international make that kind of error over the past year o so, and perhaps illustrates why he lost the No.1 role at Stamford Bridge before his summer departure.
Getty ImagesWINNER: Malcom
Firmino wasn't the only Brazilian new arrival to walk away from their Pro League debut with the match ball, as ex-Barcelona forward Malcom also netted a treble to guide Al-Hilal to victory over Abha.
Eyebrows were raised when Al-Hilal agreed to a fee of up to €60 million (£52m/$65.5m) to sign Malcom from Zenit St. Petersburg, but if Monday's performance is anything to go by, then the 26-year-old could yet emerge as a star of the 2023-24 campaign.
Amid a number of disappointing displays from his team-mates, Malcom was electric, with his third goal the pick of the bunch as he smashed a bouncing ball across the goalkeeper and into the bottom corner.
With Neymar looking set to join him in the Al-Hilal ranks in the coming days, Jorge Jesus is building a Brazilian-based attack that will strike plenty of fear into opposition defenders.
Getty ImagesWINNER: Steven Gerrard
Steven Gerrard has arrived at Al-Ettifaq with a point to prove. After the disappointing end to his time in charge of Aston Villa, the ex-Liverpool midfielder needs to prove himself as a coach once more, and he made the perfect start on Monday.
His team came from behind to beat Al-Nassr 2-1, picking up three points against one of the title favourites in a result that will have certainly caught the eye of the other members of the presumed top four.
There will be those who point to the fact that the visitors were without a number of key players, including Ronaldo, Marcelo Brozovic and Alex Telles, but Gerrard will certainly relish the way his side showed resilience to recover from Sadio Mane's early strike and gain an opening-night victory.