Brozovic v Bonaventura: Rivalry born in Milan, now playing out across Riyadh | OneFootball

Al Shabab’s trip across Riyadh to face Al Nassr on Friday night will be a high-stakes affair.

The White Lions are sixth in the Roshn Saudi League as it stands but still harbour ambitions of breaking into the top five by season’s end. Al Nassr, meanwhile, are looking to keep in touch with the top three and snap a slump in form that has seen them lose two of their past three in the RSL.

Thus, there is plenty on the line at Al Awwal Park, with reward for the victors and serious repercussions for the losers. Yet the pressure of a city derby won’t faze two of the most important protagonists on either side.

Intriguingly, Al Nassr’s Marcelo Brozovic and Al Shabab’s Giacomo Bonaventura are no strangers, either to each other or to peak-pressure football.

For five years, the two shared one of world football’s most mythologised arenas, Milan’s San Siro, on either side of the fierce Milan Derby, otherwise known as Derby della Madonnina.

Brozovic called Inter Milan home for eight and a half seasons from 2015 to 2023, while Bonaventura had six years on the opposing side with AC Milan, from 2014 to 2020.

The clubs share a genuinely revered footballing rivalry, one that splits the northern Italian city in two. Therefore, to play in the game is to compete under the most intense of spotlights.

The pair enjoyed some bruising battles across the years, as every match involving the two Milan teams tends to be. No inch is given, and every contest is fierce.

“The derby is fantastic, I will never forget the ones I experienced, with the full stadium,” Bonaventura once told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “It’s a unique emotion that stays with you forever.”

Despite their five-year crossover in Italy’s fashion capital, the opposing midfielders shared the pitch only five times, with Brozovic claiming bragging rights with two wins to Bonaventura’s one (the other two fixtures ended in stalemates).

The Croatian, a FIFA World Cup runner-up amid a glittering international career, even managed to find the net in one of their most memorable recent encounters, scoring Inter’s first goal in February 2020 as they overturned a 0-2 deficit to secure a memorable 4-2 win.

It was Brozovic who gave Inter their lifeline back into the game, through a rasping volley from the edge of the area. It was good so good, in fact, that he later described it as the best goal of his career.

“We were two goals down, I watched the ball come down and I hit it with my left foot on the volley,” he told Inter Milan’s Matchday Programme in 2023. “It was a brilliant goal and an exhilarating moment. I was deeply happy.”

Adding to the strong Milan connection in this week’s RSL encounter, both players featured in the Milan Derby under current Al Nassr manager Stefano Pioli; the Italian was in the Inter dugout during the 2016-17 season before occupying the same position at AC Milan from 2019 to 2024.

When Bonaventura left the latter for Fiorentina, the confrontation with Brozovic continued. However, again it was the Inter man who came out on top, with his team winning three of their four clashes.

Bonaventura did still make a mark, though, with his goal at the San Siro in 2023 earning Fiorentina a famous 1-0 victory. He later described the strike, and win, as “pure adrenaline”.

Now, Bonaventura and Brozovic resume hostilities in the Saudi top flight, and just as they were in Italy, the duo are pivotal players for their respective RSL sides.

Brozovic is the tempo-setter for Al Nassr, patrolling and controlling midfield with all the guile and experience of a player who made 330 appearances for one of Italy’s biggest clubs.

Everything goes through Brozovic, who acts as the conduit between defence and attack.

No player in Al Nassr yellow comes close to the midfield master for total passes this season: Brozovic has made 1568 through to the end of Matchweek 23 - 505 more than centre-back Mohamed Simakan, who comes in second.

It’s no surprise, then, that he has also created the most chances for Pioli’s side this season, with 51. Four of those have resulted in assists for goals.

As Al Nassr eye a turnaround in form and fortunes – to be fair, they sit only 10 points off top spot with 11 rounds remaining – it’s to Brozovic that they will look to once more to set them in motion.

Bonaventura, meanwhile, could claim to be becoming just as important for Al Shabab in his first season in the RSL.

Rocked by the early season departure of coach Vitor Pereira, the Riyadh side have struggled for consistency under his replacement, former Türkiye manager Fatih Terim.

Al Shabab had gone win-then-defeat for eight straight games through January and February but, in triumphing against Taawoun and Damac in their past two outings, they strung two victories together for the first time since November.

It keeps the 2011-12 RSL champions in touch with the top five; they lie eight points off Al Ahli.

Capped 18 times by Italy, Bonaventura is still looking for his first league goal of the campaign, but is without doubt showing his worth, with 25 chances created and a string of impressive performances under his belt.

Last time out, against Damac, he was a constant threat, and could easily have broken his RSL duck were it not for a couple of agonisingly narrow misses and an early header hitting the woodwork.

Bonaventura, 35, finished the game with seven touches inside the opposition penalty area - the equal most of anyone in the match - while he also had six passes into the final third.

Getting ever closer to that first goal, finally snapping his drought at Al Nassr on Friday would constitute poetic timing. Also, it would give both himself and Al Shabab a massive shot in the arm, while delivering another blow to their cross-capital foes.

The city and the colours might have changed for Brozovic and Bonaventura, but when Al Nassr welcome Al Shabab to their home patch in Matchweek 24, the stakes are arguably just as high.