Al Jazira, coached by Henk ten Cate, are under pressure after losing two Asian Champions League games. Mona Al Marzooqi / The National
Al Jazira, coached by Henk ten Cate, are under pressure after losing two Asian Champions League games. Mona Al Marzooqi / The National

Ten Cate to ‘squeeze everything’ from ACL strugglers Al Jazira against Al Hilal



ABU DHABI // Henk ten Cate says he will “squeeze everything” from his Al Jazira players as they look to get their Asian Champions League campaign back on track against Al Hilal on Tuesday.

The capital club have endured a disappointing start to Group C, losing both matches to Iran's Tractor Sazi, the first of which a dispiriting 4-0 defeat in Tabriz.

As a result, Jazira sit bottom of the pool with four fixtures remaining and next face one of the most experienced teams in the competition. Saudi Arabia’s Hilal, Champions League finalists as recently as two years ago, currently lie second in the group on four points and are expected to challenge for the title again this season.

Jazira, meanwhile, come into the game at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium on the back of a packed programme in which they have played eight times in 25 days, spanning three competitions.

However, the Abu Dhabi club are in decent form having won four of their past five Arabian Gulf League matches to climb to seventh. After Tuesday, they have three weeks without any competitive action.

“We had to focus on three things,” Ten Cate said. “We had to qualify for the President’s Cup quarter-finals, we had the Champions League to play and the most important was to stay in the Arabian Gulf League. So our focus was not fully on the Champions League.

“Now it’s a different situation because this is the last game in the spell. So we’re going to squeeze every last bit of energy out of the players’ bodies to go for a good result. Knowing my players in the short while I’m here, it’s a fantastic group with amazing energy. Every time people think we’re down, they stand up again and come back with a good result. This is my hope for tomorrow as well.

“We’ve succeeded in two competitions, why not the third tomorrow?”

Ten Cate conceded that would be difficult, though, especially with questions marks surrounding the fitness of a number of players including goalkeeper Ali Khaseif, winger Angel Lafita and Thiago Neves, the former Hilal midfielder.

Ten Cate was also in no doubt about the standard of the opposition.

“Al Hilal have been one of the best teams in Asia for years and always are a good footballing side with a lot of quality. They’re the best team in our group, a fantastic team.

“So it’s going to be hard, but we’re not so easy to beat, especially at home. We’re in a really good spell in the league, we’re getting good results and because of this the players are getting lots of confidence. So we really look forward to this.

“We’re challenging ourselves against one of the best teams in the Champions League. This alone is already a big motivation for us to get a result and, second of all, there’s four games to play, so there’s still 12 points to earn. Nothing has been decided yet.”

Hilal, second in the Saudi Pro League, have injury concerns, too, with Carlos Eduardo, Mohammed Jahfali and Khalid Kaabi out, while Salem Al Dawsari is a doubt.

“We respect Al Jazira,” coach Giorgos Donis said. “They improve a lot in the last few games. They have good players, they try a lot, and are fighting. We expect a very tough game tomorrow.

“Our target is to finish first in the group. We’ve played only two games, the group is open, so we don’t think about Al Jazira not having points. If we think like this it will be more difficult for us.”

​jmcauley@thenational.ae

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Fixture: Ukraine v Portugal, Monday, 10.45pm (UAE)

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SUNDERLAND 2002-03

No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.

SUNDERLAND 2005-06

Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.

HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19

Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.

ASTON VILLA 2015-16

Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.

FULHAM 2018-19

Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.

LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.

BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66

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The highest volume of traffic on the roads is found between 7am and 8am on a Sunday.

Travelling before 7am on a Sunday could save up to four hours per year on a 30-minute commute.

The day was the least congestion in Abu Dhabi in 2019 was Tuesday, August 13.

The highest levels of traffic were found on Sunday, November 10.

Drivers in Abu Dhabi lost 41 hours spent in traffic jams in rush hour during 2019

 

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