It is almost two years since Rodrigo Moreno left Leeds United in the summer of 2023, with The Whites forced to offload the Spaniard after relegation from the Premier League.
Scoring 28 goals in 97 games for Leeds United over the three years he was at Elland Road, Rodrigo left for a small fee to Qatari side Al-Rayyan. He hit the ground running, 12 goals and six assists in 23 outings.
Last summer, he made the surprise move to switch Qatari sides – joining Al Gharafa on loan. He has since managed just eight appearances, the last of which came on Thursday afternoon against Al Sadd at home.
Al Gharafa suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat in which Rodrigo played 80 minutes but failed to have any kind of impact. That is despite playing alongside former Real Madrid ace Joselu and Algerian star Yacine Brahimi.
Another former Leeds star scores hat-trick against Rodrigo
Rodrigo might have been the danger man, possibly Joselu or even Brahimi going into the game but in fact it was another former Leeds player that stole the game by the scruff of the neck, scoring a hat-trick.
Back in 2021, Marcelo Bielsa ended Rafa Mujica‘s two-year Leeds spell without playing a single game for the Whites at senior level. He chose to join Portuguese side Arouca, where Mujica scored plenty of goals.
Mujica scored 37 goals in 68 games and it earned him an £8.5m move to Al Sadd last summer. Since then, 14 goals in 17 games for Al Sadd including a hat-trick on Thursday in a 4-0 win over Rodrigo’s team.
Rafa Mujica closing in on league title, at Rodrigo’s expense
Not only was it a big win for Al Sadd, but an important one too. It has seen Mujica’s men climb to the top of the Qatar Stars League table, while third-placed Al Gharafa are now three points adrift in third place.
Second-placed Al Duhail have a game in hand over Mujica’s men and are two points behind but the win for Al Sadd puts Mujica in a strong position in the title race. Mujica could then, win a title over Rodrigo.
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