The National’s Sport cover for the Tuesday, September 30 issue, featuring Al Ain as they try to overturn a 3-0 first-leg deficit in the Asian Champions League.
Ali Khaled breaks down exactly what needs to go right for Al Ain to do the improbable – but, he argues, not impossible – against Saudi opponents Al Hilal. That includes a big, boisterous crowd at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain, scoring first, maintaining a clean sheet for as long as possible and making sure Al Hilal never settle into a comfort zone.
“Omar Abdulrahman said, reasonably enough,that if Hilal can score three at home, so can Al Ain,” he writes. “But football rarely follows such logic.”
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