Al Wahda eye ACL quarters berth with victory over Al Nassr
UAE’S Al Wahda return to the AFC Champions League knock-out stage ater a 12-year absence when they visit Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr for the first leg of the 2019 Round of 16 on Monday.
Al Nassr have only made it past the group stage once, in 2011, when they were eliminated by Iran’s Zobahan in the Round of 16.
While Al Wahda have successfully navigated this stage in both their previous two atempts, reaching the quarter-finals in 2004 and going one beter to reach the semi-finals in 2007.
Rui Vitoria’s Al Nassr side have been in blistering form ater a slow start to their 2019 AFC Champions League campaign. initial back-to-back def eats to al Wasl and Zobahan were followed by a renaissance and the Riyadh side have since won three and drawn one to finish second in Group A with 10 points.
On the domestic front, Al Nassr pipped archrivals Al Hilal to clinch the Saudi Pro League title with a one point margin. Moroccan striker Abderrazaq Hamdallah played a crucial role in their title victory, registering a record 35 goals, over half of his side’s 69 strikes in the competition.
Al Wahda, on the other hand, saw change at the helm over the summer. Experienced coach Henk ten Cate led them to top Group B with 13 points, but resigned due to personal reasons in the summer. The Abu Dhabi club replaced him with his countryman Maurice Steijn.
“I play every match looking for the win, this what I say to my team, they have to work hard, they have to fight with everything they have,” exclaimed Steijn.
“We are training on the physical, technical and tactics sides, and we are now almost two weeks in the camp, and I am very happy with the team. “We are working hard, training hard, and we played two very good games so far against good opponents, we got good results, and that gives the team confidence.
“We played a good game against VVCS, I am happy we scored three goals, but I am not happy with the goals we conceded.
“We still have three weeks and a half to work on it, we are looking at all the games, and we sit with the players to ask them to keep developing and that every day they should look to be beter.”
The 2019 afc champions league leading scorer, Leonardo, continues to lead the a tack for alwahda, supported by the experience of UAE international Ismael mat ar, while former al hi l al central midfielder Nicolas Milesi has been recruited over the summer to add steel and balance to their midfield.
Al Wahda will once again pin their hopes on 27-year-old winger Leonardo to lead their charge I their first knockout stage appearance in 12 years.
The Brazilian scored eight of his side’s 14 goals in the group stage, helping himself to the top of the competition’s scoring charts going into the Round of 16.
Leonardo joined Al Wahda from Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli in August 2018 and made an instant impact at Al Nahyan Stadium, scoring 13 goals in 21 league games and adding eight in the AFC Champions League.
Both sides will be looking to extend an unbeaten run in the AFC Champions League to boost their chances of reaching the quarter-finals ahead of the second leg next week.
Al Nassr’s four-game unbeaten run is their best in the competition, while Al Wahda need to avoid defeat on Monday to beter their previous best continental record.
Meanwhile, Al Wasl’s Zabeel Stadium plays host to the first West Asia fixture of the 2019 AFC Champions League Round of 16, but it is Saudi Arabia’s Al Itihad who are the home team as they face Islamic Republic of Iran’s Zobahan on Monday.
The two sides are meeting for the third time in the competition. In the 2010 group stage, Al Itihad surrendered a 2-0 half-time lead to settle for a 2-2 draw in Jeddah, while Zobahan walked away 1-0 winners at Foolad Shahr Stadium.
Despite a poor domestic season where they finished tenth in the league, Al Itihad have shown strong form in the 2019 AFC Champions League group stage, with their sole group-stage defeat coming on Matchday Two at Al Wahda. Romarinho leads the Saudi side’s scoring charts with three goals in the group stage.
Two-time continental champions, Al Itihad have never been eliminated at the Round of 16 stage, and coach Jose Luis Sierra hopes to continue the club’s tradition of competing in the later stages and has strengthened his squad with the signings of Palestinian-chilean playmaker Luis Antonio Jimenez and Argentinian central midfielder Emiliano Vecchio.
Al Wahda have successfully navigated this stage in both their previous two attempts, reaching the quarter-finals in 2004 and going one better to reach the semi-finals in 2007