Al Rayyan have two wins from four matches in Group D and sit in second place with seven points, one behind leaders Al Ahli of Saudi Arabia. A third win today, coupled with Iran’s Persepolis failing to beat group leaders Al Hilal, would seal an historic round of 16 berth.
Al Wahda are all but eliminated on just a solitary point but warmed up for the tie with a 1-0 victory over Al Sharjah in the Arabian Gulf League on Wednesday, while Al Rayyan were defeated 3-2 by Al Sadd in the Qatar Stars League a day later.
The defeat by Al Sadd means Al Rayyan only have the Emir Cup to salvage their domestic season, but coach Michael Laudrup was only dwelling on the immediate task on hand.
“We are here to play a very important match against Al Wahda,” Laudrup said yesterday.
“We are aware will be a very difficult game for us. We beat Al Wahda in the first game 2-1 in Doha but that was a very tight game and we expect a similar kind of game today,” he added.
Al Rayyan will be relying on their South American stars to deliver their third win of the tournament. Captain Rodrigo Tabata has lost none of his touch despite a gruelling season and scored a hat-trick against Al Khor to round of their Qatar Stars League season in style even though they ended up in third place behind winners Lekhwiya and El Jaish.
Tabata thus finished third in the QSL scoring list with 19 goals, while the Lekhwiya duo of Youssef al-Arabi and Baghdad Bounedjah are first and second with 24 and 23 goals, respectively.
Striker Sebastian Soria will be also looking forward to excel after a somewhat up and down domestic QSL season during which he scored only six goals while Sergio Garcia did slightly better with 11.
Meanwhile, Al Wahda coach Javier Aguirre is still not giving up the fight despite them languishing in fourth spot with just one point from four matches. They still have a slim chance of making the knockouts but they need to win their remaining two games and hope other group results come to their aid.
“We have had a poor Champions League and obviously we are very disappointed,” Aguirre said. “But we have it in us to win the next two games and then expect the other results to favour us.” Also today Al Hilal will open up an unassailable lead over opponents Persepolis and advance to the last 16 of the AFC Champions League should they defeat the Iranian side in Group D at Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex.
The Saudi team, who have Nawaf al-Abid available after suspension, currently sit three points ahead of Persepolis and warmed up for the encounter with a 2-1 victory over Al Shabab to seal the Saudi Pro League title.
Failure to win since Matchday Two has seen opponents Persepolis drop to third place in the standings and leaves them in need of a victory. They will be without suspended duo Jalal Hosseini and Soroush Rafieitelgary but go into the tie on a high after being crowned Iran Pro League champions since last appearing on the continent.
