The defending Saudi Pro League Champions Al-Ittihad of Jeddah were knocked out of the Arab Club Champions Cup on Saturday after their Captain Karim Benzema missed a crucial penalty in the quarter-finals of the match. Al-Ittihad"s dream of winning the King Salman Cup for Arab Clubs came to a crashing halt with a 3-1 defeat to bitter rivals Al-Hilal at the King Fahd Stadium in Taif on Saturday. The Iraqi Al-Shorta also qualified for the semi-finals after beating Qatar’s Al-Sadd 4-2 in the quarter-finals held in Abha. Al-Ittihad had an impressive run in the regional tournament, being the only team to achieve a perfect record by winning all three group games, alongside the defending Arab Cup Champions Raja Casablanca from Morocco. However, their ambitions were dashed when they faced Al-Hilal in the Saudi version of El Clasico. Despite bolstering their league-winning squad with Fabinho, Jota, and Benzema, they succumbed to Al-Hilal’s dominance. Former Lazio captain Serbian Sergej Milinkovic-Savic gave Al-Hilal the lead in the Saudi Clasico with a wonderful header. He scored the goal in the14th minute of the match by taking advantage of a corner pass from Ruben Neves. Salem Al-Dawsari added the second goal from a penalty kick, giving Al-Hilal a 2-0 lead. Brazilian Romarinho revived the hopes of the Al-Ittihad fans when he narrowed the deficit after 11 minutes of the break. But their fightback was thwarted when ex-Barcelona winger Malcom scored the third and final goal of the game. Al-Ittihad imposed its control in the first 10 minutes of the match in search of the goal of progress, as its players led a series of attacks on the blue net without real danger to goalkeeper Abdullah Al-Mayouf. The newcomer, Malcolm, sealed the victory for Al-Hilal in the 70th minute, before Karim Benzema missed a penalty kick for Al-Ittihad.