Merih Demiral's Fiery Reaction to Al-Ahli's Defeat

Merih Demiral left the pitch beaten. He did not leave it quietly.

Al-Ahli had just lost 3-2 to Al Qadsiah on Tuesday night, a result that dragged them deeper into frustration and lifted their opponents level with Al-Hilal at the top of the Saudi Pro League. Tijjani Reijnders, with two goals and the man-of-the-match award, had done the damage. Demiral, 28 and brought in as a defensive pillar, could not stop it.

The defeat stung. What came next lit the fuse.

Not long after the final whistle, Al Qadsiah’s official X account posted a photo of Demiral staring at a phone. The caption cut straight at him: “As always, you can find the pain of defeat on his account.”

For Demiral, it was a step too far.

When he saw the post, the Turkish centre-back reportedly marched straight into the Al Qadsiah dressing room, demanding to know who ran the account. He wanted the administrator. He wanted an apology. And he wanted the post gone.

The message was clear enough. The mocking image was eventually deleted.

It was not the first time Demiral’s temper had flared after a setback in Saudi Arabia. In April, after Al-Ahli fell to Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr in the AFC Champions League, he reacted with open anger again. This time he chose his own social media as the stage, posting two photos of his AFC Champions League medal with a pointed caption: “For the first time, they are seeing a Champions League medal in their stadium.”

That barb underlined a pattern: Demiral does not take defeat lightly, on the pitch or online. And in a title race where every result is magnified, his fire is now part of the story burning around Al-Ahli’s season.