Al Wahda, Al Ain eye three Champions League points
abu dhabi — Come Tuesday, two teams from the Capital — Al Wahda and Al Ain — will be trying to get back to winning ways with the Round 2 group stage matches of 2017 AFC Champions League.
Al Wahda will lock horns against Iran’s Persepolis at the Al Nahyan Stadium in what is touted as the ‘group of death’ with former winners Al Hilal from Saudi Arabia and Qatar Stars League champions Al Rayyan being the other two teams.
Al Wahda come into the match following a tough 2-1 loss to Al Rayyan in Group D match.
Al Wahda coach Javier Aguirre, however, said he has good confidence in his players and that they will be going for three points. “It is going to be a tough game for us but we will fight,” Aguirre said during the post-match conference.
Team’s goal-scoring machine Sebastian Tagliabue said the players are in the right frame of mind for the big game. “Mentality is very high. We all like to play international matches and are eager to put the best performance,” the ‘Clarets’ striker said.
Al Wahda remain undefeated in their previous two encounters against Persepolis FC in this tournament, earning a home win and an away draw against them in 2011.
But the visitors from Iran have an ace up their sleeves with coach Branko Ivankovic, who coached Al Wahda from May 2012 to April 2013. The ‘Red Army’ coach thanked Al Wahda FC for the ‘good memories’. “I know Al Wahda. The team has changed though. There are two players – Ismail Matar and Hamdan Al Kamali – who were with me then. Now there are a lot of excellent foreign players.”
He revealed that two players – defender Ramin Rezaeian and striker Ali Alipour – will not be available for the game over disciplinary action. Rezaeian did start the last drawn game against Al Hilal. The coach said they have managed absence of players in the past.
Meanwhile, Al Ain FC got an away match against Bunyodkor in Uzbekistan. They had eked out a 1-1 draw Iranian side Zobahan in the first round of Group C match.
Al Ain FC are training in cold regions, where the temperature may drop to 4 degrees Celsius. Al Ain coach Zoran Mamic said they are expecting a strong game on Tuesday. He said that a team that doesn’t make the most of opportunities will be punished and that’s what happened in the first round match.
“Bunyodkor got in their ranks very skillful players with fluent style of play. We need to have a greater concentration and character to win. We want to return with three points.” Midfielder Danilo Asprilla said the team got high technical capabilities to win.
Meanwhile, Bunyodkor coach Sergey Lushan said they not only just want to win but seek to emerge as a superior team in all departments.
He noted that Al Ain is not just about Omar Abdulrahman and they will focus on the rest 10 too. “I have analysed a number of games and are well aware that we are facing one of the best teams in the Asian continent at the moment,” he said.
This will be the first meeting between these clubs, though Bunyodkor are undefeated in their last five encounters against the UAE teams. Also, Al Ain are undefeated in their last six games against Uzbekistani opposition. Omar had made 103 passes in Al Ain’s campaign opener in Match Day 1, more than any other player in the competition and the only player to make more than 100.
It will be cracker of matches on Tuesday.
ashwani@khaleejtimes.com