“Asian Champions”: Al Hilal achieved a historic victory in “India”… and Al-Ittihad to heal its local wounds
The Al Hilal team is looking to record a historic victory against the Indian Mumbai City FC, as the match that will bring them together in the AFC Champions League is the first meeting that Al Hilal will play in India in its history.
The fans in India were anticipating the presence of Al Hilal in order to see the Brazilian star Neymar, as the match was moved to a stadium that can accommodate approximately 55,000 spectators, but the injury suffered by the Brazilian national team captain with a rupture of the cruciate ligament disappointed the hopes of the fans who love Neymar and prevented him from his historic presence in India.
Al-Hilal enters its match looking to continue to be at the top of the Group 4 standings in order to end the issue of its qualification to the next round of the tournament early to avoid the stage of player fatigue in light of the successive matches. Al-Hilal has 7 points gained through two victories and a draw, while it is shared in the lead by the Navbakhor team. The Uzbek with the same point balance.
Jesus, Al Hilal coach, upon his arrival at Mumbai airport yesterday morning (Al Hilal Club)
The Capital Blue scored six goals against its counterpart, Mumbai City, in the first leg that brought them together in Riyadh last round, which motivates them to repeat their superiority and come out with a new victory that contributes to their presence at the top of the standings.
Al Hilal is missing the services of Serbian Savic, who suffered an injury in his team’s match against Al-Fateh in the Saudi Professional League, and the Serbian star failed to accompany the team to India to confirm his injury.
Al Hilal is experiencing an ideal period of increasing level and performance under the leadership of its Portuguese coach, Jorge Jesus, who is leading the team to the top of its Asian group and the top of the standings in the Saudi League, in addition to reserving its place in the quarter-finals of the King’s Cup.
The fatigue factor remains the most worrying concern for the Portuguese coach, who is awaiting an important confrontation against Al-Taawoun in the next round of the Saudi League, as he is expected to work to rest some names if he decides the confrontation early.
As for the Indian team Mumbai City, which has not succeeded in achieving any point so far and has failed to record a positive result, as in the 2022 edition, in which it achieved two victories and one draw, even though it exited the tournament in the group stage.
The Indian team is at the bottom of the group, which is led by Al Hilal, and it appears that it is the first to leave the current edition of the tournament.
In the same group, Uzbekistan’s Navbakhor faces a risky confrontation when it visits Iran’s Nesagai after winning the first leg held in Uzbekistan with a fatal goal. He came in the last minute of the match and the result indicated a 1-1 draw between the two teams.
Al-Ittihad’s recent training exercises in preparation for facing Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (Al-Ittihad Club)
Navbakhor has 7 points and shares the top spot with Al Hilal, while Iran’s Nesagai has only 3 points and is looking forward to achieving a win that will restore its hopes of competing for the chances of qualifying for this group.
In the Iraqi city of Erbil, Al-Ittihad is facing a difficult confrontation against the Iraqi Air Force team for the second group competitions in which the conflict is heating up, before Al-Ittihad is alone at the top of the standings with a full mark after the decision of the Disciplinary Committee of the Asian Football Confederation and granting Al-Ittihad points to face Sepahan Isfahan, Iran.
Al-Ittihad, which is experiencing bad days under the leadership of its Portuguese coach Nuno Santo, rebounded with points in its match against the Iranian team, which brought it closer to qualifying for the next round after it moved away from its closest competitor by 5 points before the strong confrontation away from home.
Al-Ittihad, “the dean of Saudi clubs,” came out with a difficult victory against the Iraqi Air Force in the confrontation that brought them together in the city of Jeddah in the last round, and Abdul Razzaq Hamdallah scored a fatal goal in the last minute of regular time in the match, which was on its way to a goalless draw.
The holder of the title of the last edition of the Saudi Professional League Championship enters the match against Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya after suffering a new loss in the local league at the hands of Al-Shabab, a step that contributed to keeping the team from maintaining its title and brought Al-Ittihad into a cycle of moral frustration.
It is expected that the Portuguese Santo will use his compatriot Jota in the Air Force match, as he did in the first leg, but the picture is not yet clear. Will the coach need the services of French star Karim Benzema or will he keep him off the list, as he did in the first leg?
As for the Iraqi Air Force, it is trying to come up with a positive result amid expectations of a large crowd attending the match. The Iraqi team currently has 4 points, equal to the Iranian Sepahan-Isfahan team.
In the same group, the Iranian Sepahan team will play an easy match against its guest, Agmak of Uzbekistan, to discuss compensation for being considered a loser against Al-Ittihad in the match that was canceled and was not played by the decision of the match observer due to legal violations on the match field.
The Sepahan team, which has 4 points in Group C, won its match against Uzbekistan’s Agmak with a score of 3-1, and the return match, which will be held in Iran, but away from Naghsh-e Jahan Stadium, according to the decision of the AFC, seems very easy for the home team to continue the journey of victories, especially The Uzbek team has not achieved any victory and has lost all its matches so far.
2023-11-06 11:23:22
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