Al Ain’s 2015/16 season was decided in a short spell between April and May earlier this year, almost a year’s work condensed into five frantic weeks.
First, they surrendered their Arabian Gulf League crown to rivals Al Ahli, an ultimately unsuccessful title defence confirmed with one round to spare. The club that prides itself as the UAE’s front-runners had regressed to runners-up.
Then, Al Ain negotiated progression to the Asian Champions League knockout stages and, three weeks later, had advanced to the quarter-finals.
However, within four days the club’s campaign concluded in disappointment and despair. Chasing the country’s most coveted trophy, Al Ain lost a tense President’s Cup final to Al Jazira on penalties and, with it, the pursuit of three titles suddenly compressed into one.
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That hunt resumes on Tuesday, when Al Ain begin a fresh season that reaches back into the last. The Garden City side return to the Champions League at the last-eight stage, a two-legged encounter with Uzbekistan’s Lokomotiv that offers not only the chance to press on, but the opportunity to salvage an essentially unsatisfactory 2016, too.
Al Ain need it. For all their protestations that second in the Arabian Gulf League was, to quote manager Zlatko Dalic, no “tragedy”, the club’s fans want more. Often, they expect it. Losing the President’s Cup final, a match Al Ain dominated in the second half and throughout extra-time, only exacerbates the need for Champions League success three months on.
As Dalic conceded in May, the continent’s premier club competition remains the priority; the desire to emulate the celebrated 2003 title win runs deepest among supporters. For them, the Croat noted, “it’s Asia, Asia, Asia”. Asia, Asia, Asia: two previous final appearances must soon become three.
Yet Al Ain, still the UAE’s sole continental champions, face an arduous task to double their haul. In Lokomotiv, they encounter a side not only 19 matches into their domestic top-flight season, but five points clear at the summit, unbeaten thus far. In 31 fixtures this year, they have suffered a solitary defeat.
In contrast, Al Ain have spent the past month of pre-season scratching around for fitness and for friendlies, whether during their recent training camp in Austria or back at home this past week. Their UAE national team players, seven including lynchpin Omar Abdulrahman and new signing Amer Abdulrahman, did not join the squad until 10 days ago.
That aside, Al Ain undoubtedly possess the more talented squad, have the greater resources to progress to the semi-finals. But while their preparations have been far from ideal, Lokomotiv arrive conditioned and confident. Al Ain need to find a way to overcome that for their 2016-rescue act to sustain.
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