Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Jeddah: Coach Christian Gross has promised an attacking approach from the first whistle of Al Ahli’s AFC Champions League last 16 tie with Iran’s Neft Tehran on Wednesday as the Saudi Arabian side seek to overturn a 1-0 deficit at King Abdullah Sports City.
Gross (pictured right) was heavily critical of the former finalists last week after Iran international Gholamreza Rezaei scored the only goal of the first leg in Tehran after the home side had dominated for the majority of the 90 minutes.
But having escaped with only a minor defeat, Group D winners Al Ahli will look to make full use of home advantage to secure a return to the quarter-finals for a third time in four years.
“The match will be very hard because our opponents are an organised side and they have good experienced players who are coached by an excellent coach. It will not be an easy task for us to make a comeback in the encounter,” said Gross having also guided Al Ahli to a second-place finish in the Saudi League in his first season in charge after winning the Crown Prince Cup in February.
“We will go into the attack right from the beginning and hopefully we can convert the chances into goals.
“We should score two goals and avoid conceding any goals if we want to qualify to the quarter-finals.”
Last week’s defeat had ended Al Ahli’s unbeaten record in the AFC Champions League this year after Gross’ side had won Group D with three wins and three draws.
And the defeat also extended Al Ahli’s winless run in all competitions to four games having also drawn with Uzbekistan’s Nasaf in the AFC Champions League before ending the Saudi Professional League season with back-to-back stalemates as Gross’ side missed out on the domestic title to Al Nassr by four points.
“We should give our best if we want to achieve our target and hopefully we will get good support from our fans,” added Gross.
“Our opponents will have less pressure than our players who are motivated to give a good performance and get a win.”
Photo: WSG