Qatar’s Al Rayyan and the Iran’s Saipa will square off in the 2019 AFC Champions League Play-off round at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium today eager to seal a place in the group stage. Qatar’s Al Duhail and Al Sadd directly qualified for the group stage by virtue of having finished as winners and runners-up of 2017-18 season QNB Stars League. Al Rayyan and Al Gharafa, who finished third and fourth in the standings, went into play-off and if they win today, they will book a berth in the group stage.
Al Rayyan have made eight appearances in the competition but have yet to make it beyond the group stage and suffered a familiar fate in 2018 despite being unbeaten and in a strong position after their first four games.
Domestically they sit third in the Qatar Stars League after a 3-1 victory over Al Arabi on Thursday, but they remain some distance behind the front two of Al Sadd and Al Duhail. New recruit and Venezuelan striker Gelmin Rivas carries much of Rayyan’s hopes as he made his debut in Qatar memorable by scoring two goals and setting up the other against Al Arabi.
Al Rayyan will be bolstered by the presence of captain Rodrigo Tabata, who has been suspended for two QNB Stars League matches as a result of the decision against him by the Qatar Football Association’s Disciplinary Committee for his action during the match against Al Kharaitiyat in the QSL Cup. Tabata had missed their Al Arabi match and will also miss their Qatar Clasico against Al Sadd on 23rd February.
Rayyan, under Turkish coach Bulent Uygun, also have the likes of Lucca Borges, Gonzalo Viera, Koh Myong-Jin and Sebastian Soria. Saipa, meanwhile, have only once qualified for the Continental competition, back in 2008 when they reached the quarter-finals before defeat to a Bunyodkor side that featured Brazilian FIFA World Cup winner Rivaldo. After overcoming India’s Minerva Punjab 4-0 in Preliminary Stage 2, Ali Daei’s team – who have not won in the Iranian Pro League since September – are now just one match away from lining up alongside the Continent’s elite once more.
Meanwhile, Al Gharafa will welcome Iranian side Zobahan to Thani bin Jassim Stadium. After finishing fourth in the Qatar Stars League last year, Al Gharafa currently languish in the bottom half of the table after defeat to Umm Salal last week, and they will be without injured Dutchman Wesley Sneijder for the clash.
The Doha team have qualified for the competition eight times, with a quarter-final appearance in 2010 their best performance, while they also reached the last 16 in 2013. Last year they were unlucky to be eliminated at the group stage by virtue of an inferior head-to-head record against the United Arab Emirates’ Al Jazira.
Al Gharafa, coached by Frenchman Christian Gourcuff, will look to put behind the disappointment of losing to Umm Salal at the QNB Stars League last week. The Cheetahs, who slipped one place to eight in the standings with 18 points, indeed have the potential to beat Zob Ahan, the runners-up in the Iranian league. If Al Gharafa win, they will join teams such as Al Wasl of the UAE and Al Zawraa of Iraq in Group A.
Gharafa are expected to field a full squad, with the return of Vladimir Weiss and Diogo Amado from injury. They will also be served by goalkeeper Yousef Hassan, Tamim al-Muhaysa, Abdulaziz Hatem, Fahd al-Shammari, Yousef Muftah, Mehdi Taremi, Othman al-Yahri and Ahmed Alaaeldin.
Zobahan finished the 2017-18 Iranian Pro League season as runners-up but are enduring a miserable campaign this time round and are sitting dangerously near the relegation zone having not won a game since August. They needed extra time to overcome Kuwait SC 1-0 in Preliminary Stage 2.
The Isfahan side’s best performance on the Continent was when they finished as runners-up to Korea Republic’s Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma in 2010, while they have also reached the knockout rounds in two of the past three seasons.
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