AFC Champions League Round of 16: Al Ain preview

Al Ain travel to Al Ahli’s Al Rashid Stadium in Dubai for the first leg having topped Group B ahead of Iran’s Naft Tehran to ensure they have home field advantage in the second leg next week. 

But while Dalic is pleased his side have avoided having to make another overseas trip by being drawn to face one of their local rivals, the Croatian coach believes few other clubs in the competition will know his Al Ain side as well. 

“The match is a big challenge as we are playing against a local team and a strong one as well,” said Dalic, whose side hammered Dibba Al Fujairah 5-0 in the UAE President’s Cup last week. 

“The good thing is that we will not be travelling and we will be playing the two matches in the UAE which is good for us. 

“However, we are not lucky by meeting Al Ahli who are a strong team. We came to Dubai in order to achieve a positive result and I hope that we can continue the good performances that we had in the recent matches.” 

The two teams have met each other three times in domestic action this season, with honours even between them with one win, one draw and one defeat. The most recent clash came in the league in April, with Al Ain winning thanks to a solitary goal from Asamoah Gyan. 

Gyan (pictured in ACL Group B action against Naft Tehran) has recently returned to the team after injury limited his involvement in the group stages of the AFC Champions League and the Ghanaian striker should start, but Al Ain will be without suspended duo Helal Saeed and Miroslav Stoch. 

Dalic is confident, however, that his team’s current good run of form will help them advance. 

“We know that the match will be very hard and at the same time we know everything about Al Ahli,” he said. “However, our opponents know us very well but we are going through a good period and hopefully we can win tomorrow.”

Photo: WSG