Red Bull Salzburg and Al Hilal played out a 0-0 draw on Sunday in their Group H encounter at the Club World Cup, held under sweltering conditions in Washington, with the real-feel temperature reaching 99 degrees.
The result left Salzburg, the 17-time Austrian Bundesliga champions, on four points (1-0-1), narrowly trailing Real Madrid (1-0-1, 4 points) at the top of the group on goal difference — a slim one-goal margin in favor of the Spanish giants.
The decisive group match between Salzburg and Real Madrid is set for Thursday in Philadelphia.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal (0-0-2, 2 points), who boast 19 Saudi Pro League titles, are still in search of their first win and will meet already-eliminated Pachuca (0-2-0, 0 points) on Thursday in Nashville.
Despite the scoreline, both teams showed attacking intent. Al Hilal’s Yassine Bounou turned in a strong performance with five saves, while Salzburg’s Christian Zawieschitzky recorded four saves of his own.
Al Hilal nearly broke the deadlock in the 81st minute when Sergej Milinkovic-Savic unleashed a strike toward the bottom left corner from outside the area, but Zawieschitzky was alert and positioned well to make the save at his near post.
The Saudi side had more attempts overall, outshooting Salzburg 19 to 13, but both clubs were left frustrated by missed opportunities and resilient defending.
Al Hilal dominated early, recording 10 of the first 15 shots of the match, yet Zawieschitzky was only called upon once in that stretch, a save from Salem Al-Dawsari in the fifth minute.
A critical moment came in the 21st minute when defender Jacob Rasmussen intervened to block a right-footed shot by Marcos Leonardo and clear the ball off the line, preserving the clean sheet.
Salzburg tested Bounou with three shots on target in the opening half. One of their better chances came in the ninth minute when Frans Krätzig lofted a precise long ball into the box for Karim Onisiwo.
The forward cleverly flicked it toward goal with the outside of his right boot, forcing a save from Bounou.
The Moroccan goalkeeper was called into action again shortly after the break, making a key save in the 48th minute when John Mellberg found himself one-on-one inside the six-yard box.
Though the heat was intense, both sides maintained a strong tempo throughout the match, but ultimately, they had to settle for a share of the spoils.