Buraidah: Al Duhail are looking to continue the winning momentum, with head coach Hernan Crespo eyeing second victory over Pakhtakor FC in Group D of the AFC Champions League (ACL) at the King Abdullah Sport City Stadium, today.
The Red Knights bounced back from their opening day defeat to Al Taawoun, registering two wins on the trot, putting themselves level at the top on six points, with head-to-head placing them behind the Saudi side.
Despite the relative advantage, Crespo’s men will be all too familiar with the dangers of their current situation, having exited the 2020 group stage in an identical fashion, finishing behind Al Taawoun in Group C on head-to-head after both sides ended the group stage campaign on nine points.
Al Duhail defeated Pakhtakor 3-2 in the first leg on Thursday.
“I believe the game against Pakhtakor will be very difficult just as it happened against them in the previous game, but we are certainly pursuing a repeat of the win,” said Crespo.
“We deal with every game as its own big challenge for us, and we prepared well for this game despite the congested schedule and intense pressure. We are always targeting a win.”
Key for Crespo has been Brazilian-born Belgian winger Edmilson who has bagged three of Al Duhail’s four goals in the campaign so far, with only last year’s top scorer Michael Olunga joining him on the Qatari side’s scoresheet with one goal, but the Argentine legend insists there is more to his side than their talisman.
“Edmilson is an important player in our team and he helped a lot in achieving the victory last time, but I don’t think we are a one-man-team. We play as a group and all players are ready to give their best and make the difference.
Al Duhai’s most recent win means Pakhtakor are yet to get a victory against the Qatari team in three attempts, having lost to the side then named Lekhwiya 3-1 and drew 2-2 in the 2013 group stage.
Pakhtakor FC head coach Slavce Vojneski is eager to get one back against Al Duhail SC.
The Uzbek side had come out second best on Thursday despite taking the lead twice. Montenegrin attacker Oliver Sarki put Pakhtakor in the lead just before the break and Sardor Sabirkhodjaev restored their advantage in the 69th minute after Edmilson had brought the game level, but the Belgian winger had the last word, striking twice more in the last 19 minutes to give Al Duhail the victory.
“There are still three more games to play in the group and our chances of reaching the next round are still there,” said Vojnoski.
“I told the players we have to fight, to give our best to keep our hopes alive. We respect Al Duhail, they performed very well against us last time and they have top quality players. Our objective is to put in a good performance and make up for our last defeat against them.”
A second defeat from three games leaves Pakhtakor in desperate need for points on Monday should they avoid a repeat of last year’s group stage exit, and the North Macedonian coach believes they have what it takes to get the win.
“We prepared very well for this game, studied the opponents on many levels to find ways to stop them and understand their weaknesses. I hope we can get a positive result to keep our hopes of qualification intact.”
