DUBAI // Cosmin Olaroiu, the Al Ahli coach, has labelled Wednesday night’s encounter against Nasaf a “must-win” should his side retain any hope of advancing to the Asian Champions League’s knockout stages.
The UAE champions have taken a solitary point from two matches – most recently, they were defeated 1-0 by Iran’s Tractor Sazi – and are rooted to the bottom of Group D.
Ahli’s troublesome continental campaign mirrors this season’s Arabian Gulf League title defence, with the Dubai club coming into the home tie against Nasaf languishing in seventh position in the table. Thursday’s 2-0 defeat to Al Jazira extended a run that has yielded two victories in the past seven rounds.
Nasaf, meanwhile, opened their 2014/15 Uzbekistan top-flight season only late last week, beginning with a win. They have three points thus far in the Champions League.
Should Ahli fail to triumph at the Rashid Stadium tonight, then the remaining assignments, against Al Ahli – their Saudi Arabian namesakes – and Tractor Sazi, may prove almost redundant.
“We have to take this chance tomorrow,” Olaroiu said. “We have to look to win the game and then these next two. The result in any match is very important for us in the fight for qualification.
“It’s a difficult game against a team who are strong, organised, aggressive. They have a very high spirit with a few players of high quality. Unfortunately when we face these teams from Iran, Korea or Uzbekistan, we have a problem with the power, the aggressiveness. It’s the same for almost all the teams in the Gulf.
“But we try to compensate with our quality. We hope to have a positive result tomorrow to keep us in the competition and with a chance to qualify for the next round.”
Olaroiu said Ahli have been working hard on improving an attack that has struggled since Grafite, their captain, was allowed to leave in the winter transfer window. The Romanian also cited the need to eradicate defensive mistakes that have cost the club recently, as seen during Ahli’s 3-3 draw against Ahli of Jeddah on Matchday 1.
Luis Jimenez was sent off in that fixture, but returns to the Ahli squad determined to put right what has until now been an uncharacteristically poor season for the Dubai side.
“We’re ready,” the Ahli midfielder said. “We worked hard these past few days. We’ve played well recently, but haven’t got the results, so it’s time to change this. What we’re giving at the moment is not enough – we have to give something else.
“I’m very confident in our team and for sure tomorrow we’ll start to change our season. Normally when you play Champions League, you are more motivated and in this case it’s even more because in the league we cannot fight for the title. It’s one of our remaining objectives, so we have to give something more.”
Ruziqul Berdiev, the Nasaf coach, said his side should be wary of a wounded Ahli. The Uzbeks are seeking to rebound from defeat in the last round, too, when a late goal against Ahli in Saudi Arabia sealed the result.
“Al Ahli are not a weak team,” Berdiev said. “If they’re seventh in their league, or even in last place in the Champions League group, that doesn’t mean they’re not strong. We know they’re very strong and tomorrow we’ll need to be at our best.
“We came here for a victory and we’ll try to do our best to have a good game.”
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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