ABU DHABI // The knock-out stages of the continental championship are still within Al Ain's reach, but their coach said his players will focus first on the league and tonight's Etisalat Cup.
"It's more important to put a plug into the league," Alexandre Gallo said yesterday. "That is very important for us, and so is the Etisalat Cup."
Al Ain are in a demanding run of seven matches in 27 days. Tonight's Etisalat Cup final is the second of the seven games; two are in the Asian Champions League (ACL) and the other four are Pro League games.
The Abu Dhabi side are on four points in the ACL, three points behind Nagoya Grampus and FC Seoul. With two matches still to play, Al Ain could finish in the top two in Group F and advance to the final 16, which no UAE team has accomplished since 2007.
However, Gallo indicated yesterday that most of the players in the first XI for the cup final tonight will not travel with the team when they fly to Korea tomorrow for the game on Wednesday with FC Seoul.
"It is 11 hours in the air and they are five time zones away," Gallo said. "Some of the players may not have time to get over the Cup match. It's a lot of travel."
Al Ain also remain mired in a relegation battle, something of a shock for a club that have never been out of the top flight, and they have a Pro League make-up match away to Al Ahli on May 8, just four days and another 11-hour plane ride after the match in Seoul.
By keeping many of his first-choice players at home, they are far more likely to be ready for Ahli, Gallo said.
"Ahli will be a very difficult game and I want my players to be ready for that," he said.
"So the problem for the Champions League match is that we will have to change some players."
poberjuerge@thenational.ae
