The AFC Champions League Elite -- Asian football's premier club competition -- returns on Monday.
And while a new campaign delivers the prospect of continental glory to all 24 of the tournament's hopefuls, a familiar old question can once again be asked: will anyone be able to stop another Saudi Pro League triumph?
Since the massive influx of global stars to the SPL -- initiated by Cristiano Ronaldo's shock move to Al Nassr at the end of 2022 -- it always seemed inevitable that a domination was on the cards.
Especially when Ronaldo was soon joined by Sadio Mané and Marcelo Brozović, Al Hilal boasted the likes of Neymar, Rúben Neves and Kalidou Koulibaly, while other famous names like Karim Benzema and Roberto Firmino landed at Al Ittihad and Al Ahli respectively.
Surprisingly, in the first full season following the SPL's initial wave of illustrious arrivals, the answer to that question was, in fact, "yes".
During the 2023-24 campaign, Al Hilal, Al Nassr and Al Ittihad were three of the four West region quarterfinalists. Somehow, it was Emirati outfit Al Ain who would progress to the final -- first seeing off Al Nassr on penalties before claiming a thrilling 5-4 aggregate triumph over Al Hilal in the semis.
They would go on to beat the East region's representatives -- Japan's Yokohama F. Marinos -- in the final to claim a second continental crown.
If that came as a rude shock, than at least it also served as a wake-up call -- for Saudi Arabian football was not to be denied last term.
A change in tournament format helped.
The latter stages of the knockout round, from the quarterfinals onwards, were now to be played in a centralised venue. The selection of Jeddah provided the SPL contenders, especially hometown club Al Ahli, with a distinct advantage.
The removal of zonal segregation, which previously guaranteed the decider would be contest between East and West, also meant that all three teams reach the semis in a show of supremacy.
Ultimately, just like Al Ain did the year before, J1 League outfit Kawasaki Frontale did brilliantly in playing the role of party pooper.
They overcame Al Nassr in inspirational fashion but would eventually fall short. Al Ahli, led by the inspirational Firmino, would reclaim the status of Asian champions for Saudi Arabia with a 2-0 win.
This season will see Al Ahli look to defend their title. And in addition to perennial contenders Al Hilal, it is Al Ittihad -- rather than Ronaldo's Al Nassr -- that round off the SPL contingent.
On paper, no other team boasts the same kind of quality as the trio.
Al Ahli may have allowed Firmino to leave for Qatar's Al Sadd but still have Riyad Mahrez and Ivan Toney at the front of a formidable core which also includes Édouard Mendy, Roger Ibañez and Franck Kessié.
Al Hilal's capture of Neymar may have backfired but the likes of Neves, Koulibaly, João Cancelo and Sergej Milinković-Savić have all been huge successes.
And for big names such as Benzema, N'Golo Kanté, Fabinho and Moussa Diaby will surely be thinking they are finally on the stage that they were expecting to perpetually be on when they agreed to move to Jeddah in the first place -- after Al Ittihad shockingly missed out on continental qualification last season.
So who, if any, are the likeliest to give the SPL giants a run for their money?
The J1 League teams are always competitive. Where they lack in exorbitant spending, they make up for in a steady stream of locally-nurtured talent who often go on to make the grade in Europe. Just last term, Kōta Takai's impressive displays in Kawasaki's run to the final would earn him a Premier League move with Tottenham.
Perhaps it will be Vissel Kobe that will be the East region's best bet in 2025-26. While their foreign contingent has more modest résumés compared to their counterparts in the SPL, Vissel's strong local nucleus boasts a plethora of ex-Japan internationals with plenty of experience in some of Europe's strongest leagues, including Yuya Osako, Yoshinori Muto, Gōtoku Sakai and Yosuke Ideguchi.
Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Vissel's compatriots, are another team that has shown an ability to challenge on the continental stage even without overly-famous imports. They will however have to wait a while longer for former Bundesliga and Serie A campaigner Tolgay Arslan -- their genuine game changer -- to return from a long-term injury.
In the West, it is the Qatari teams who have come closest to matching the SPL in capturing some of the football's most-famous names.
Al Gharafa are no slouches with Joselu, Mason Holgate and Sergio Rico in their ranks, but Al Sadd have always led the way -- from the time they had Raúl, and then Xavi, playing for them.
Al Sadd have added genuine star power in Firmino, who -- even at the age of 33 -- was hugely pivotal in Al Ittihad's triumph last season. While less prominent, left-back Paulo Otávio had a couple of excellent campaigns in the Bundesliga with Wolfsburg, while Rafa Mújica is a Barcelona academy graduate who was once on the books of Leeds United.
Again, these teams hardly have anything to be embarrassed about regarding the talent at their disposal. Whether or not it is enough to match the might of Al Ahli, Al Hilal and Al Ittihad is a different matter altogether.
It will be for the benefit for the ACL Elite if there is at least some sort of challenge posed to the SPL hegemony, and it certainly was not a walk in the park for them last season.
Yet, perhaps the more pertinent question already, even before a ball is kicked, is which of Saudi Arabia's trio will not be denied.