Al Ain boss Vladimir Ivic admitted his side's 5-0 Fifa Club World Cup thrashing by Juventus had left his players in “shock” and questioned whether all of them actually watch European football.
The UAE club's campaign at the revamped 32-team tournament got off to the worst possible start when they were hammered by the Serie A giants in Washington last Wednesday.
The Garden City club, who qualified as the 2023/24 AFC Champions League winners, were run ragged in the first half and reached the interval 4-0 down.
Ivic said that Juventus' quality had surprised some of his players, and doubted whether every member of his squad had been fully aware of what they were up against.
It doesn't get any easier for Al Ain, with a match against Premier League Manchester City next up on Sunday night (Monday 5am UAE) at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Asked how his players had reacted to their opening defeat, Ivic said: “It was a shock a little bit, because we believe we have a good squad, if we speak about our country.
“Some players [only] joined us a few weeks ago, and, of course, it is a totally different competition if we speak about our [domestic] competition and we speak about this World Cup competition.
“I believe that in this game it is not a question of if Juventus deserve victory – they were the better team, they scored five goals and could have scored one or two more.
“But they shoot five times, six times, at the goal in the first half and they score four. It is a little bit unlucky. If you remember how we concede the goals, the second, the third, the fourth was in the last second of the extra time.
“We had some chances, we create something … this plan we prepared for attack, it worked in some actions that we create, we could have scored two goals in this game.
“But it was a shock. [The players] didn’t know exactly what level is Juventus, because of that, I say that I am not sure all of them are watching European football. We show them the opponent every time, we explain to them against who we play, this is normal in our job.
“But we go game by game, next game is tomorrow. We believe in ourselves. We will give our maximum to see where we are when we play against a team like City.”
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Francisco Conceicao, right, of Juventus celebrates scoring his team's second goal during the Club World Cup match against Al Ain at Audi Field in Washington. AFP -
Juventus forward Randal Kolo Muani after scoring his team's fourth goal against Al Ain. AFP -
Al Ain's Soufiane Rahimi makes a plea. Reuters -
Juventus midfielder Kenan Yildiz after scoring his team's third goal. AFP -
Al Ain defender Ramy Rabia and Juventus' Kenan Yildiz fight for the ball. AFP -
Al Ain's Alejandro Romero tries to block Juventus forward Francisco Conceicao. AFP -
Randal Kolo Muani, second left, celebrates with teammates. EPA
Premier League City, meanwhile, got their campaign off to a winning start with a routine 2-0 victory over Wydad Casablanca in their opening game.
Another three points against Al Ain would secure their place in the last 16 and Ivic admits it will be a “huge challenge” for his side to stall City's progress. He praised opposite number Pep Guardiola's impact on world football, describing him as the leading coach of the modern game.
“You said, 'one of the best', no, he is the best coach in the world because he showed this in the last 15 years,” said Ivic when asked about Guardiola.
“He is a guy who influenced a lot of the football, changed the football. It is a pleasure to play against the team he manages, but I am on the opposite side now, working with my players, with the people in the club, to try and get the best for my team.
“To speak about City, you don’t need words to explain. In the last 10 years they win maybe six or seven Premier League titles. It is the best championship in the world. I don’t need to speak a lot about them. Anyone who follows football, loves football, knows what Manchester City means today.
“Of course, when you play against the best [teams] you want to give the best of yourself. I am sure my players will give the maximum and try from the first to the last second of the game because it will be a huge challenge.”
Guardiola to ring changes at City
Meanwhile, Guardiola admitted on the eve of the game that City are looking to offload a number of fringe players.
The Premier League side brought in several new recruits ahead of the Club World Cup, leaving Guardiola with a bloated squad.
England stars Kyle Walker and Jack Grealish appear to be on their way out, while midfielder Ilkay Gundogan has been linked with a move to Turkish side Galatasaray.
Guardiola said he did not know anything about that at his pre-match press conference, but said players would have to be sold following the purchases of Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki and Rayan Ait-Nouri.
Guardiola has said in the past he prefers a squad size of around 20 senior players, whereas City have more than 30 at present.
“I will love to have the players we have right now all season,” Guardiola said. “The problem is they will be unhappy during the season, they will be sad, they will be disappointed.
“I don't want that. I do it for them, not for me. For them. We have to see what happens, it's a long time until the transfer window will be closed, we have to see step by step.”
The Catalan said defensive midfielder Rodri was not able to start against Al Ain as he continues his comeback from injury.
“He's getting better. He can play 20 minutes, 30 minutes at a time. He wants to play to help but we want to protect his knee,” he said.
Guardiola previously said fans will see “10 new players” against Al Ain, meaning a likely debut for Ait-Nouri and a start for Erling Haaland.
