Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Jeddah: Coach Alireza Mansourian has challenged Iran’s Naft Tehran to make up for only managing a 1-0 win in last week’s AFC Champions League last 16 first leg in Wednesday’s return fixture with Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli at King Abdullah Sports City.
Gholamreza Rezaei scored the only goal of the game 11 minutes before the end of the first half last week in Tehran for Group B runners-up Naft.
But the AFC Champions League debutants, who secured their place in the group stage after beating Qatar’s El Jaish in the play-offs, were left frustrated after being unable to add to their tally particularly through Iman Mobali and Amir Motahhari.
“We should have sealed the encounter in the first leg (pictured), but we are confident that we can have a good result in the second leg,” said Mansourian.
“It will not be easy though as Al Ahli are a strong team, but we will take advantage of their mistakes in order to win the match.”
Naft did manage just one win away from home during the group stage of their maiden AFC Champions League campaign, although that was a 3-0 success over Saudi Arabia’s Al Shabab either side of defeats by Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor and Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates.
And further success on Wednesday will go some way to make up for Naft agonisingly missing out on a maiden Iran league title prior to the second leg.
Naft were firmly in the hunt for the domestic crown heading into the final round of fixtures, but Mansourian’s side were eventually forced to settle for a third-place finish having shared a 3-3 draw with Tractorsazi Tabriz when victory would have claimed the domestic title.
“We will be playing against a strong team who have quality players, but we are also a good side and we are prepared very well for the match which will be decisive as it will determine who will continue in the competition,” added Mansourian.
Photo: WSG