Al Sadd's players taking part in a practice session ahead of their AFC Champions League Round of 16 match against Iran's Persepolis, which will be played at the Education City Stadium, today.
Doha: Former champions Al Sadd will be looking to settle for nothing less than a quarterfinals berth in the AFC Champions League (ACL) when they take on Iran’s Persepolis in the one-off Round of 16 clash today. Al Sadd, who cruised to the pre-quarters with a game to spare despite losing to Al Ain in their last Group match, finished second in Group C behind Al Nassr with nine points.
The Qatari side, which has the strongest attack in the competition with 14 goals to their name so far, will be no easy opponents for Persepolis when the two sides meet for the seventh time in the history, and coach Xavi said his team will treat today’s encounter ‘like a final’.
Speaking during a prematch press conference, Xavi said yesterday: “We are very excited, we want to win and reach the quarter-finals. We will play against Persepolis, which is the best Iranian team, and it will be a difficult game, like a final, for us.”
Qatar’s most successful side in the continental tournament, Al Sadd have appeared in the competition on 13 occasions, reaching the knockout stage six times prior to 2020, winning the title in 2011 and reaching the semifinals in 2018 and 2019.
“It will be an excellent game and a great opportunity to qualify for the quarterfinals. We respect Persepolis and we will not forget that they knocked us out in the 2018 semi-finals,” the Barca legend said.
“We must play with balance and great passion in order to get the win. We hope to achieve this by giving our best on the pitch. Our priority in the match against Sepahan was to rest some players after qualifying, but for Persepolis, they needed to qualify,” the Spaniard said.
“We will face a strong and difficult team. We will play for possession and control of the match, and this is a key point for us. We have an advantage with the rest that the players got, but we must be fully prepared.”
The 2011 winners Al Sadd SC are the only former champions in contention in the West Asia region. There are two Iranian teams in the last 16, Persepolis and Esteghlal, and Xavi said the most spirited matches that he has faced in his career are always against Iranian teams.
“I told the players that the most spirited matches that I have faced in my career are always against Iranian teams, including Persepolis, who play with great enthusiasm. So we need to play with a lot of passion, like it’s a final and always be focused throughout the match, even if we reach the penalty shootout. Otherwise, we will struggle to achieve what we are looking for, which is going to the quarter-finals,” Xavi said.
The former Al Sadd captain also pointed out that the hosts will have a full-strength team against Persepolis, and said: “All the players of the team are fully prepared and there are no absentees.”
As for playing at Education City Stadium after playing the previous four games at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, the coach said: “Education City Stadium is a big stadium, but it does not change the way we play. Everything is excellent; the conditions are perfect and the weather is very good and it is time to give our best to qualify for the next round.”
In the meantime, this is the sixth time Persepolis have made it to the knockout stage. “We face a difficult encounter against a strong and organised Al Sadd team,” said Persepolis captain Seyed Jalal Hosseini ahead of the encounter, which is arguably the biggest clash in the last 16 stage.
“All teams in the AFC Champions League are strong and we know Al Sadd have some really good players especially in attack, but we have intelligent analysts who will do well to analyse the opponents and the coaching staff will help us prepare well. It will be a tough game for both sides,” Hosseini said. The match kicks off at 4.40pm.
