AL AIN // Zlatko Dalic said Al Ain would have almost put the Asian Champions League quarter-final against Lokomotiv to bed in Tuesday's first leg, had he been given sufficient time to prepare his side.
The Garden City club were held 0-0 by the Uzbeks at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in their opening match of the season. Al Ain threatened to score only sporadically, with Danilo Asprilla spurning their best chance late on.
• Asian Champions League round-up: Neither defence breached as Al Ain held at home by Lokomotiv
Lokomotiv, who are top of the Uzbek league after 19 rounds, created few opportunities, but the two sides start from scratch again in Tashkent on September 13 to decide who progresses to the semi-finals.
“I have to be happy with how my team played tonight,” Dalic said.
“We played a good game, 0-0 is a good result for us. In my time here, we usually play better away than at home in the Champions League. The result is open and we have a chance for everything.”
Al Ain’s cause was not helped by releasing seven of their UAE internationals to a recent month-long, national-team training camp in Spain. Mahdi Ali’s side begin the final stage of qualification for the 2018 World Cup on September 1, meaning Dalic had his full squad for only 10 days before Tuesday night’s match.
“If I’d had my players for a month, I guarantee we would have scored three goals tonight,” said the Croat, who will now be without the same seven players for the next two weeks as they join the UAE camp again to prepare for the qualification double-header against Japan and Australia.
“I do not know. Tomorrow my players go to national team and come back on September 7. We will have only two days to prepare properly for the second leg. It is very difficult for us. I don’t want to cry or find excuses. I cannot change anything.”
However, Dalic found some comfort in the performances of new additions Caio and Amer Abdulrahman. The midfielders signed at the beginning of last month, with winger Caio excelling, in particular.
“I am very happy with all my team tonight,” Dalic said. “I expected a good game because I have good players. Maybe, I didn’t expect high, high level, not fantastic things from them today. We still have the next game and everything is in our hands.”
Andrey Miklyaev, the Lokomotiv manager, added: “Our plan is to go to the final of this tournament and we all want this to happen. The result is good for us, but if you look at the statistics, Al Ain can play better in away matches in the Champions League. But we will see what happens in the next match.”
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