Hegazi leads Etihad Jeddah against Sepahan in AFC Champions League lead-up

By Ahmad Harbi

Monday, December 4, 2023 at 07:00 AM

Leads the Egyptian international Ahmed HegaziThe Jeddah Federation star will be out for the first time in a long time as his side suffered a torn cruciate ligament injury this evening, Monday, when they host Iranian Brigadier General Sebahan for the sixth time. Final round of group stage of AFC Champions League, current edition 2023. -24.

Radiant Jewel Stadium will host Jeddah Union against Iran’s Shebahan at 8pm Cairo time..

Al-Ittihad officially qualified for the Round of 16 of the AFC Champions League after a 2-1 win over Uzbekistan side Akmak in the fifth round of the Asian Cup group stage..

Al-Ittihad are at the top of the group with 12 points, while Sepahan are second with 10 points..

A draw is enough to guarantee Al-Ittihad the lead as they enter the match looking for a win to confirm their right to lead the group and continue their positive results with their new coach, Argentine Marcelo Gallardo. Not losing a single match..

Al-Ittihad will lose the services of its French captain Karim Benzema and his compatriot N’Golo Kante due to injury..

Hegazi was injured on May 27, 2023 while taking part in the Al-Fayha match against Al-Ittihad in the 29th round of the Saudi League last season..

Hegazy recently recovered and took part in team training, but was out of that period to recover from a torn cruciate ligament injury..

Ahmed Hegazi will take part in Al-Ittihad’s match against Iran’s Sebahan Isfahan at the Radiant Jewel Stadium tomorrow, Monday, for the sixth round of the group stage of the AFC Champions League..

Marcelo Gallardo, the coach of Jeddah Football Association, confirmed during the press conference that Ahmed Hegazi will participate for 45 to 60 minutes and thus participate with his team after 190 days..

On 23 November, the AFC Disciplinary Committee ruled that Al-Ittihad beat Sebahan 3-0 in the second round of the AFC Champions League at the Naqsh-Ceyhan Stadium in the Iranian city of Isfahan after the match referee decided not to blow the opening whistle. Even though the teams came to the stadium, due to legal violations.

Sepahan will be looking for a win to ensure qualification regardless of the rest of the group results. Any other decision would involve him in complicated calculations and he would have to wait for the rest of the results to know his fate..