Grandmother – Saudi Al-Ittihad hosts its Iraqi counterpart Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya in the third round of group stage matches of the AFC Champions League 2023-2024. The former was a 3-1 win over Al-Talaba, the second was a 1-2 draw and the third was a negative against Al-Jawra.
Al-Ittihad finished second in the group with three points after a 3-0 win over Uzbekistan’s IGMK and missed their second match against Iran’s Sebahan based on referees and match watchers’ reports. Later, Al-Quwa Al-Zawiya led the group with four points, drawing 2-2 with Sepahan and beating AGMK 2-1.
At the local level, Al-Ittihad have been going through a slump in performance and results as they are winless in their last three league games, drawing with Al-Fayha and losing the derby to their neighbors Al-Ahly. , before drawing with al-Dawun.
Al-Ittihad are missing some key players due to injury, such as Brazilian Fabinho, Ahmed Sharahili and Hassan Kadesh, but they include a host of notable names led by Brazilian Karim Benzema, his compatriot N’Golo Kante. Romarinho da Silva, along with his compatriot Igor Cornado and Italians Luis Felipe, Muhannad Al-Shangidi, Ahmed Bamasoud, Faisal Al-Khamdi and Saleh Al-Omari.
Increase the lead
On the other hand, Al-Quwa Al-Jawiyah managed to avoid defeat and got four points and will hope to continue its positive results and come back with three points or at least a draw to maintain its lead. Al Hilal Saudi Arabia will be looking to strengthen their lead in Group D when they host Indian Mumbai City at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh on Monday.
Al Hilal lead the group with Uzbekistan’s Navbakhor on four points after drawing 1-1 before beating Iran’s Mazandaran Weavers 3-0, while Mumbai are bottom of the group with no points after losing 0-2 to Nezaji. , and Navpakorin 0-3. Al Hilal is missing some influential players led by its Brazilian star Neymar, who tore his cruciate ligament while competing with his country’s national team, and its captains Salman Al-Faraj and Hassan Timbukti.
But Mohamed Al Owais, Saud Abdul Hamid, Mohamed Khanno, and Salem Al Dosari are all named in the ranks, as well as the expected foreign five, Khalid Koulibaly, Serbian Serji Milinkovic-Savic, his compatriot Aleksandar Mitrovic, Portuguese Ruben Neves and Brazilian Malcolm Filip.
Qatar’s Al-Tuhail will hope to avoid an early exit from the AFC Champions League qualification calculations when they visit Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nasser on Tuesday. Al-Tuhail continues to stumble after losing 0-1 to Iran’s Persepolis in the previous round and a negative first round draw against Iran’s Esteghlal to finish third in its group with a point.
The last-gasp defeat to Persepolis led to the withdrawal of Argentina’s Hernán Crespo from coaching the team, with Frenchman Christophe Gallet to lead the side for the first time against Al-Nasser.
Al-Nasr leads the group with 6 points after winning the first round against Persepolis 2-0 and Esteghlal 3-1. The Saudi team will be looking for a third win to secure a foothold in the next stage of the tournament. It relies on a group of foreign players such as Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo and Senegal’s Sadio Mane, as well as Croatia’s Marcelo Brozovic. As for Qatar, they will look to revive their chances of qualifying for the next round when they host Jordan’s Al-Faisali on Monday in the second group matches, which includes Al-Sharjah of the United Arab Emirates. and Nasaf of Uzbekistan.
Stick up
Al-Saad entered third place with one point, a 0-0 draw with Al-Sharjah and a 1-3 loss against leaders Nassaf, while Al-Faisali is last in the group with no points after its two. 0-1 against Nasaf and defeat by the same scoreline against Al-Sharjah. Al-Saad is seeking its first win in the tournament and will be missing the services of its player Akram Afif, who was sent off with a red card against Nassab, and realizes that its coach Bruno Miguel sees the clash as a last chance.
The Al-Saad match will be the first test for new Al-Faisali coach Ahmed Hayel, who took over from Tunisian Ghazi Al-Qarairi and is expected to be the third coach to lead the team this season. In the first group, Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates will be looking to achieve their best start in 20 years and take the lead when they host Al Fayha of Saudi Arabia. Al Ain launched the current edition, which, after an absence of the last two years, is coming back strong with its success.
They beat Uzbekistan’s Bakhtakor 3-0 and Turkmenistan’s Al-Ahl 4-2, and if they beat Al-Fayha, they will get off to their best start since 2003 when they won three in a row in the first group stage. Won the first title in history. Al Ain prepared well for the match after their Dutch coach Alfred Schroeder rested some of his players against Al-Nasr in the first leg of the League Cup quarter-final (2-0) on Thursday.
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