Road to the Asian Champions League final: How Al Ahli got here

Ahead of Saturday’s first leg to the Asian Champions League final in Dubai, John McAuley recounts how the Arabian Gulf League club reached this stage:

GROUP D:

Al Ahli 3-3 Al Ahli (KSA)

Stumbling through their AGL title defence, Ahli sought relief on the continent, but Majed Naser set the tone against their Saudi namesakes when his fresh-air kick in the opening minute allowed Osvaldo to score. Ismail Al Hammadi and Ahmed Khalil struck either side of another away goal, then Naser erred again, palming a cross into his net. Luis Jimenez received a straight red, but Ahli rallied again, Al Hammadi levelling 11 minutes from time.

Tractor Sazi 1-0 Al Ahli

Ahli’s troubles continued, although they did not deserve to lose in Iran. Beginning the match with only Oussama Assaidi and Kwon Kyung-won of their foreign contingent available, the UAE side initially struggled. Farshad Ahmadzadeh’s close-range finish put Tractor ahead in the 40th minute. But Ahli responded well after the break, with Habib Fardan having their best chance saved. The performance did little to restore confidence, though: Ahli were now winless in five matches.

Al Ahli 0-0 Nasaf

A dispiriting stalemate at the Rashid Stadium. Desperate for victory, Cosmin Olaroiu’s side huffed and puffed against the Uzbeks, but could not break them. Labelled a “must-win” for the UAE club rooted to the bottom of the group, they came up short. Nasaf’s goalkeeper, Eldorbek Suyunov, supplied a man-of-the-match performance. The result stretched Ahli’s Champions League record to seven draws in their past 10 games. Qualification seemed dead and buried.

Nasaf 0-1 Al Ahli

Fresh hope. Ahli’s continental campaign received an unlikely boost in Qarshi, from an improbable source. Much was expected of recent signing Everton Ribeiro, but he initially struggled. Such was his status, he begun the match on the bench. However, Ribeiro was eventually introduced and, with nine minutes left, he fired a speculative shot that deflected off an opponent and into the net. Ahli had their first victory, a precious one at that. They leapt to second in the group.

Al Ahli (KSA) 2-1 Al Ahli

Afterwards, Olaroiu spoke of “two clear sides to the match” in Jeddah. The first referred to the Dubai club in the ascendency, when Ribeiro give them a 15th-minute lead. The second evolved from the 62ndminute, when Majed Hassan was wrongly sent off after Ribeiro had clipped an opponent’s heels. Ahli paid for the referee’s blunder, surrendering their advantage before Bruno Cesar won it deep into injury-time. The outlook was bleak: progression was now out of Ahli’s hands.

Al Ahli 3-2 Tractor Sazi

Somehow, Ahli’s Champions League sustained. Needing to beat the Iranians and then hope their Saudi rivals failed to defeat Nasaf, Olaroiu’s men conjured an improbable passage to the knockouts for the very first time. Ahli twice game from behind, through goals from Ribeiro and Khalil. Then, with two minutes remaining, the UAE striker’s header crept inside the Tractor post, sealing the win and prompting wild celebrations. Finally, unexpectedly, Ahli were in the last 16.

LAST 16:

Al Ahli 0-0 Al Ain

UAE football’s fiercest rivalry got an Asian makeover, but the first leg at the Rashid Stadium ended goalless. Ismail Al Hammadi struck the crossbar for the hosts, while Ahli also went close through Majed Hassan. Al Ain, en route to a 12th UAE championship crown, did little bar an 11-minute period before half-time. Ahmed Dida twice repelled Asamoah Gyan and then Ibrahim Diaky. Ribeiro excelled. Game on for the Garden City.

Al Ain 3-3 Al Ahli

An unbelievable five-minute spell turned the tie on its head. Al Ain had taken the lead on four minutes when Gyan pounced, but shortly after half-time the competition’s sturdiest defence crumbled. Salmeen Khamis scored, then Khalil struck twice: three goals in a blink of an eye. Al Ain now needed three to avoid going out on away goals. They fell one short, though, despite Gyan getting his second and Rashid Essa’s injury-time leveller. Scant consolation.

QUARTER-FINAL:

Naft Tehran 0-1 Al Ahli

Iran had slowly become a happier hunting ground for Ahli, who were by far the better team against their off-colour opponents. Al Hammadi was guilty of missing two presentable chances in the first half, but then Rodrigo Lima, the summer signing from Benfica, opened the scoring just after the hour, latching onto Ribeiro’s deflected corner. It was his tournament debut. Ahli had the victory and, with it, a vital away goal.

Al Ahli 2-1 Naft Tehran

A Lima thunderbolt midway through the first half doubled Ahli’s advantage in the tie, before Khalil won and converted a penalty just after half-time. However, two minutes later Naft pulled one back through Vahid Amiri, aided by Walid Abbas’s mistake. Despite that, Ahli were never really in trouble. More celebrations. In progressing, they became the second successive UAE side to make it to the semi-finals. Again, Al Hilal would be the Emiratis’ opponents.

SEMI-FINAL:

Al Hilal 1-1 Al Ahli

Ahli’s record against Hilal read: played seven, won zero. Yet they took the lead at the teeming Riyadh stadium when Lima brilliantly headed home Ribeiro’s 57th-minute free-kick. Hilal responded, with Carlos Eduardo missing a penalty after Salmeen Khamis was inexplicably judged to have handled in the area. Ahli’s reprieve lasted only a short time, though - Alton Almeida heading past Dida eight minutes from time. So close for Ahli. The tie was delicately balanced.

Al Ahli 3-2 Al Hilal

First-half goals from Lima and Ribeiro had the Rashid Stadium rocking, but Hilal scored twice in 13 minutes not long after the break to level the tie at 3-3. Thus, they were advancing on away goals. Ahli, meanwhile, looked dead and buried. However, in the fourth minute of injury-time, Kwon Kyung-won latched onto a ball in the visitors’ penalty area and thumped it home, via a deflection. Ahli were through. Pandemonium ensued.

jmcauley@thenational.ae