El Jaish coach Lucescu: Task cut out
By Sports Reporter/Doha
Three teams from Qatar find themselves pitched into the Asian Champions League spotlight when they tackle fancied Saudi Arabian opponents in the last 16 of the continent’s premier tournament.
El Jaish and Al Gharafa, two of the three Qatari teams who made the knockout stage of the AFC Champions League, would be aiming to salvage something from their Asian adventure after a lacklustre domestic season which culminated in their exit from the Emir Cup.
Lekhwiya, the third team in the knockouts, certainly look the best equipped to go further deep in the tournament and possibly emulate Al Sadd who won the 2011 Champions League against all odds. The Heir Apparent Cup champions will take on Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal tomorrow in Riyadh.
El Jaish, meanwhile, have been boosted by the return from suspension of Adriano and Marcone for today’s match at the Rayyan Stadium.
El Jaish went through a light training session on Sunday, just 24 hours after their Emir Cup Defeat at the hands of Al Rayyan.
Their rivals Al Ahli are the 2012 Asian Champions League runners-up, having lost to South Korea’s Ulsan Hyundai. They are riding a wave of confidence after reaching the semi-finals of the King’s Cup with a 3-1 win over Al Nassr last week.
The visitors are boosted by the return of midfield duo Jairo Palomino and Bruno Cesar.
“We will be playing against a tough team who have achieved good results in the competition despite the fact that they are playing in the AFC Champions League for the first time,” said Al Ahli coach Ilic.
“We hope that we can get a good result before hosting the second leg which will be decisive.
“El Jaish are a good team and we must be cautious in our approach for the match. I hope that we can get positive results as we want to go far in the competition and compensate for losing the title last year.”
AFC Champions League debutants El Jaish claimed an impressive runners-up finish in Group A behind Saudi champions Al Shabab and ahead of Al Jazira and Tractorsazi Tabriz.
“We want to have a positive result in the first leg of the match as we want to continue our successful campaign in the competition and get as far as we can,” said El Jaish coach Razvan Lucescu.
“We will be playing against one of the top teams in the continent who reached the final of the competition last year.
“The match is different than the group stage and it will be very hard for both teams, but we are confident that we will achieve a positive result.”
FIXTURES
AFC Champions League round of 16, first leg games to be played today and tomorrow:
Playing today
At Buriram
Buriram United (THA) v Bunyodkor (UZB) at 6:00 pm (1100 GMT)
At Beijing
Beijing Guoan (CHN) v FC Seoul (KOR) at 7:30 pm (1130 GMT)
At Doha
Al Gharafa (QAT) v Al Shabab (KSA) at 6:45 pm (1545 GMT)
At Doha
El Jaish (QAT) v Al Ahli (KSA) at 7:00 pm (1600 GMT)
Playing tomorrow
At Gosford
Central Coast Mariners (AUS) v Guangzhou Evergrande (CHN) at 7:30 pm (0930 GMT)
At Jeonju
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (KOR) v Kashiwa Reysol (JPN) 7:00 pm (1000 GMT)
At Dubai
Al Shabab Al Arabi (UAE) v Esteghlal (IRI) at 7:40 pm (1540 GMT)
At Riyadh
Al Hilal (KSA) v Lekhwiya (QAT) at 9:00 pm (1800 GMT)