Al Ain are enduring a stuttering start to their AFC Champions League title defence, following up their opening-round draw with a 4-2 defeat at Al Gharafa on Tuesday, while Al Hilal dominated Al Shorta to make it two wins from two for the Saudi club.
UAE side Al Ain, who clinched their second Champions League title last season, managed to pull themselves level with an impressive fightback in the second half at the Thani bin Jassim Stadium in Doha having fallen 2-0 down to a pair of goals from former Real Madrid and Spain striker Joselu either side of the interval.
Joselu put Al Gharafa ahead when he redirected Seydou Sano's shot past Khalid Eisa in first-half injury time and he doubled the lead three minutes after the restart with a close-range header.
Al Ain pulled one back from the penalty spot through Paraguayan winger Kaku in the 56th minute, before last season's top scorer, Moroccan forward Soufiane Rahimi, levelled 10 minutes later.
However, two goals in quick succession from the hosts scuppered Al Ain's comeback. Senegalese defender Sano restored Al Gharafa's lead in the 73rd minute before Algerian forward Yacine Brahimi made it 4-2 three minutes later.
The result leaves Hernan Crespo's side languishing in 10th place in the 12-team West region league table after two games following their 1-1 draw at home against Al Sadd in their opening fixture.
"We needed this win," said 34-year-old Joselu, who joined the Qatar Stars League side this past summer following a loan spell at Real Madrid. "I'm happy I scored but what's important is the team. We lost our last game in the league so today we must show we are a team that can play together and we played well, we scored four goals."
Al Ain's AFC Champions League task doesn't get any easier as the holders aim to claim their first win of this season's competition against Al Hilal in their next game on October 21.
Al Hilal too strong for Al Shorta
Al Ain produced an impressive two-legged performance against Al Hilal in last season's semi-finals on their march to the title, but the Riyadh giants are again looking like the standard bearers in the West.
Jorge Jesus' team thrashed Iraqi champions Al Shorta 5-0 on Tuesday to join domestic rivals Al Ahli as the only teams in the West league to win both of their Champions League matches.
Al Hilal began the rout with two quick goals in the first half, Brazilian striker Marcos Leonardo – signed in the summer from Benfica – opening the scoring in the 11th minute before Aleksandar Mitrovic continued his prolific start to the campaign with his team's second goal just four minutes later. The Serbian striker now has 11 goals in nine games across all competitions.
Saudi Arabia international defender Khalifah Al Dawsari made it 3-0 shortly after half-time, with midfielder Nasser Al Dawsari extending Hilal's lead in the 73rd minute. Mohamed Kanno then completed the rout deep in injury time.
Hilal, who won the Saudi Pro League and King's Cup double last season by going the entire domestic campaign unbeaten, are in ominous form in the new term; they have won all five of their league matches so far having already secured the Saudi Super Cup.
The Riyadh club have also been boosted by the news of Neymar's return to training. The Brazilian forward was signed in a league record €90 million deal from Paris Saint-Germain last summer but has been limited to a handful of appearances after a season-ending ACL injury while on international duty last October.
Neymar announced his return to club training with Hilal on Monday, writing on social media: "Happy to be back in the group," with pictures of him running and kicking the ball, watched by Hilal manager Jesus.
Al Hilal have not yet registered Neymar for the current Saudi Pro League season, which began in August, but he has been included in their AFC Champions League squad.
The top eight finishers in the 12-team western and eastern divisions of the league phase will progress to the last 16, which will be played on a home-and-away basis in March.
Teams advancing to the quarter-finals will participate in a centralised tournament in Saudi Arabia to determine the champions, with the final to be played on May 4.
