Al Duhail, Al Ahli Saudi square off for AFC Champions League future

(MENAFN - Gulf Times) Al Duhail and Al Ahli Saudi will have the benefit of knowing what they have to do going into their 2021 AFC Champions League Group C clash at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium Friday. Both are tied on eight with Esteghlal FC, with the Iran side playing Iraq's Al Shorta earlier today, with only the group winners assured of advancing to the Round of 16. The three best runners-up from the five AFC Champions League West groups will also advance, meaning Al Duhail and Al Ahli Saudi will have all to play for even if Esteghlal beat Al Shorta. Al Duhail could have avoided being in this position had they not fallen to a shock 2-1 defeat to Al Shorta on Matchday Five, which head coach Sabri Lamouchi said was their worst performance of the campaign. The French coach blamed fatigue for the defeat but he will need to galvanise his players for one last effort to ensure Al Duhail take their place in the Round of 16 as group winners, with his team having drawn 1-1 with Al Ahli Saudi in the corresponding fixture. 'Tomorrow's match will be like a final for the two teams and we need a victory if we want to advance to the next stage, said Lamouchi. 'It will be a football battle tomorrow and the two sides will be looking for a victory. 'Al Ahli's performance has changed since the start of the tournament and we expect a difficult match because we are playing against a strong team. It might be another crazy match like we had previously. 'I don't think that the defeat against Al Shorta put pressure on us as we had an excellent start to the competition. We lost the only match that we didn't expect to lose. 'We will be missing important players like Benatia and Al Ahraq but we have players who can replace them. Our ambitions tomorrow is to win the match regardless of the other results. Al Ahli Saudi recovered well from their opening 5-2 defeat against Esteghlal to get back into contention but their inability to defeat the Iranians over their two matches has cost them dearly. Head coach Laurentiu Reghecampf will have the task of motivating his players should Esteghlal defeat Al Shorta in the earlier match as that would mean Al Ahli Saudi's best hope of advancing — should they win against Al Duhail — would be by finishing as one of the three best group runners-up. 'This will be the last match in the group so it will definitely be a decisive one, said Reghecampf. 'I have full confidence in my players that they will give their best in order to win the match. 'I hope that the players can understand that they are good and we must fight hard in order to qualify. We will prepare the players for this match very well and I hope that we will not have any absentees. 'I don't like comparisons with past results and this means that we don't think of Al Duhail's results in the competition. Three teams have a chance to advance from the group and this will put pressure on all the players.MENAFN29042021000067011011ID1102004334