Halfway through the 2013/14 season and, as expected, the first half of the campaign has been dominated by Al Ain and Al Ahli resuming a bitter rivalry honed over three bad-tempered matches last term.
If anything, the ill-feeling between the two clubs has soared since last summer. Very little of it has had anything do with what is happening on the pitch.
In the press, on television and in the halls of the Football Association, though, a storm is raging.
The spiky relationship that developed last season between the two clubs is well documented but even that paled into insignificance when Cosmin Olaroiu left Al Ain for Al Maktoum Stadium in June.
Al Ain fans and officials saw the move as nothing short of betrayal, many labelling the Romanian a traitor and vowing payback.
His six-month touchline ban by the FA will be seen as justice served by those in the Garden City, but the impact on Al Ain’s season has been no less traumatic.
This season, the two clubs were again expected to duel for the Arabian Gulf League title, but what looked to be a two-sided contest has been decidedly one-sided.
Last week, Ahli looked to be running away with the league, a 3-1 win over Al Dhafra leaving them six points clear of second-place Al Shabab and 11 over champions Al Ain, who are sixth.
Then, out of nowhere, a lifeline for the chasing pack.
A logistical error by Ahli’s technical management team, which saw an ineligible player, Adnan Hussain, run on and play against Dhafra, has led to a forfeit of the game and a three-point deduction.
Suddenly, Al Ain can again take the fight to Ahli on the pitch.
Al Ain had responded to Olaroiu’s move by hiring the former Ahli coach Quique Sanchez Flores, after deciding before the season had begun that the first man they had brought in, Jorge Fossati, was not up to the job, seemingly a tit-for-tat move.
He looked the perfect candidate to steer them to a hat trick of titles. The additions of Michel Bastos and Ibrahim Diaky added to the sense of optimism.
Things have not worked out. Al Ain may be the league’s top scorers but they also have the worst defensive record of the top seven. Most of their troubles have come away from home where they have failed to win a match.
The transition from Olaroiu to Sanchez Flores has not been a smooth one.
Now Al Ain find themselves at a crossroad in the season and, potentially, in their modern history.
Next week sees the inauguration of their new state-of-the-art Hazza bin Zayed Stadium. No one connected to the club would have expected the occasion to coincide with such an inconsistent season in the league.
Other challenges are looming on the horizon, too.
Next month, Al Ain, along with Ahli and Al Jazira, will again take part in the Asian Champions League group stages. After last year’s dismal performances by the Emirati teams, none can be confident of progress.
Al Ain, in particular, cannot afford to finish out of the qualifying places for next year’s competition.
Asia’s premier club tournament hardly compares to the Uefa Champions League, Copa Libertadores or even CAF Champions League. But it is competition that both Omar Abdulrahman and Asamoah Gyan have in recent years pinpointed as a primary target.
Gyan has already turned down an approach from West Ham United and a return to the English Premier League, but could still be tempted away should the club not challenge for trophies over the next year.
Abdulrahman’s situation is a little different and his importance to the UAE’s bid for Asian Cup glory at Australia 2015 could well see him stay at his beloved Al Ain beyond this season.
But do not expect the talk of a big move to Europe to go away.
Al Ain fans are some of the most loyal in the country but the last thing they, and the club’s management, want is the loss of their star players so soon after moving into their new home. Those 25,000 seats need filling.
Sanchez Flores knows he cannot afford to look that far ahead. Defeat today does not bear thinking about and will almost certainly spell the end of a title challenge.
A win will leave Al Ain only two points behind Al Shabab and eight behind Al Ahli, who last night beat Dubai 2-1.
Supporters will hope that by the time Ahli visit Hazza bin Zayed Stadium for the first time, on March 23, Al Ain are still hanging on to the current leader’s coattails.
Time, however, is running out. Sanchez Flores will know that the remaining 13 matches, starting tonight, could prove too little to reel in Ahli.
akhaled@thenational.ae
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