Al Duhail head coach Hernan Crespo (left) and striker Michael Olunga during a press conference yesterday.
Al Duhail are hoping to beat Al Taawoun FC in Group D tie at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium today to ensure a place in the knockout stage of the AFC Champions League 2022.
Hernan Crespo’s men could confirm automatic progression with a win against the group hosts, while a loss would see them still stand a good chance of progression as one of the best placed second placed sides. The Argentine wants to make sure of the former though.
“I believe that this group gets more difficult as matches pass by,” said Crespo.
“We will play against a team that has no other option but to win in order to progress automatically to the Round of 16. It’s a difficult competition with little time between matches but players eventually adapt to all situations and I believe our squad has the ability and experience to come out of this game on top.”
“We have worked incredibly hard to prepare for this game, we will aim for a win to go through instantly because we don’t want to be at a position where on the final matchday, we’re still looking for points or hoping we’d be one of the best second placed teams.”
Meanwhile, head coach John van den Brom was adamant his Al Taawoun FC side have to win when they face Al Duhail SC in their penultimate Group D game.
The last time the two sides met was on Matchday One, when Al Taawoun snatched a late 2-1 win thanks to Alvaro Medran’s excellent effort four minutes from time, having initially gone down to Edmilson’s opener that was canceled out five minutes later by Cameroonian Leandre Tawamba.
The duo are in the driver’s seat of the group; Al Duhail lead the way with nine points from four games while Al Taawoun are two points short behind them with two wins, a draw and a loss. As things stand, Van den Brom’s men are the top second-placed side and a win here could see them go top of the group or at least confirm one of the three spots reserved for group runners-up in the Round of 16.
“This is another important and difficult encounter against Al Duhail,” said Van den Brom.
“We have to win to get that top spot and automatic progression to the Round of 16. Our opposition is very good, well organised, and have exceptional talent across all three lines. They have won their past three games too which must have given them a boost in confidence coming into our match.
“We will do what we can and try to take advantage of their weaknesses in order to get a result like the one we got in the first match.”
Al Taawoun’s goal threat has come from a range of players; all six goals have been scored by different players, with Tareq Abdullah and Saad Yaslam being prime creators providing two assists each.
“The rules indicate that we can only field three foreign players per game, and at the club we have seven. This is why we try to rotate as much as we can to give everyone an opportunity to show what they have got.”
