Al Ain manager Zoran Mamic was left to rue mistakes across both legs against Al Duhail as his side exited the Asian Champions League on Tuesday.
The UAE champions, seeking a place in the quarter-finals for the third successive year, were beaten 4-1 in the second leg in Qatar to lose the last-16 tie 8-3 on aggregate.
Al Ain's chances of progression were always slim following last week's 4-2 defeat at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium. They received another blow heading into the return match, when star striker Marcus Berg was ruled out through illness, joining teammate Caio in not being available for selection. The Brazilian winger was suspended having been sent off in the first leg.
Still, Al Ain's fate was sealed early at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium. The visitors were 2-0 down on the night after 30 minutes, courtesy of an own goal from Mohammed Ahmed and a Youssef El Arabi tap-in. Duhail, boasting a 100 per cent record in this year's competition, added two more in the second half before Omar Abdulrahman converted a penalty in injury-time.
So Al Ain, Champions League winners in 2003 and runners-up two years ago, concluded their 2017/18 campaign with a costly defeat.
"If we analyse the matches, we can see that we made mistakes in both the games," Mamic said. "You need to be a top team to be able to exploit these mistakes and Al Duhail did that.
"They deserved to reach the quarter-final. They played very good football, playing simple and not complicating things, with one-two touches and a lot of speed. They have such players in the team and they used that very well. This is the formula to be successful."
Berg’s absence was particularly damaging. In his debut season at Al Ain, the Swede had found the net seven times in the Champions League until that point, contributing to his tally of 36 goals in 36 appearances since joining last summer from Greek side Panathinaikos. In his place, Ahmed Khalil struggled to have any real impact.
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Yet Mamic refused to put the defeat down to key omissions.
“We missed two important players – Caio and Berg,” he said. “We didn’t have replacements who could be of that quality. But that’s not the reason we lost the game. I have to repeat that Al Duhail were better than us.”
Understandably, Mamic had gone into the match declaring faith in his side's ability to turn around the tie. Al Ain had been dominant domestically this season, winning both the Arabian Gulf League and the President's Cup - the first time in their history they had captured both trophies in the same campaign.
Asked about his pre-match comments, Mamic said: “I talked about the hope to achieve a strong result because hope is always there and we had the chance to do something. But in football hopes are not enough.
"Duhail were simply better than us and they deserve the result.”
Keane on …
Liverpool’s Uefa Champions League bid: “They’re great. With the attacking force they have, for me, they’re certainly one of the favourites. You look at the teams left in it - they’re capable of scoring against anybody at any given time. Defensively they’ve been good, so I don’t see any reason why they couldn’t go on and win it.”
Mohamed Salah’s debut campaign at Anfield: “Unbelievable. He’s been phenomenal. You can name the front three, but for him on a personal level, he’s been unreal. He’s been great to watch and hopefully he can continue now until the end of the season - which I’m sure he will, because he’s been in fine form. He’s been incredible this season.”
Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s instant impact at former club LA Galaxy: “Brilliant. It’s been a great start for him and for the club. They were crying out for another big name there. They were lacking that, for the prestige of LA Galaxy. And now they have one of the finest stars. I hope they can go win something this year.”
A new relationship with the old country
Treaty of Friendship between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates
The United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates; Considering that the United Arab Emirates has assumed full responsibility as a sovereign and independent State; Determined that the long-standing and traditional relations of close friendship and cooperation between their peoples shall continue; Desiring to give expression to this intention in the form of a Treaty Friendship; Have agreed as follows:
ARTICLE 1 The relations between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates shall be governed by a spirit of close friendship. In recognition of this, the Contracting Parties, conscious of their common interest in the peace and stability of the region, shall: (a) consult together on matters of mutual concern in time of need; (b) settle all their disputes by peaceful means in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.
ARTICLE 2 The Contracting Parties shall encourage education, scientific and cultural cooperation between the two States in accordance with arrangements to be agreed. Such arrangements shall cover among other things: (a) the promotion of mutual understanding of their respective cultures, civilisations and languages, the promotion of contacts among professional bodies, universities and cultural institutions; (c) the encouragement of technical, scientific and cultural exchanges.
ARTICLE 3 The Contracting Parties shall maintain the close relationship already existing between them in the field of trade and commerce. Representatives of the Contracting Parties shall meet from time to time to consider means by which such relations can be further developed and strengthened, including the possibility of concluding treaties or agreements on matters of mutual concern.
ARTICLE 4 This Treaty shall enter into force on today’s date and shall remain in force for a period of ten years. Unless twelve months before the expiry of the said period of ten years either Contracting Party shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the Treaty, this Treaty shall remain in force thereafter until the expiry of twelve months from the date on which notice of such intention is given.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have signed this Treaty.
DONE in duplicate at Dubai the second day of December 1971AD, corresponding to the fifteenth day of Shawwal 1391H, in the English and Arabic languages, both texts being equally authoritative.
Signed
Geoffrey Arthur Sheikh Zayed
