Al Nasr have sights well and truly set on the semi-finals

Al Nasr have never appeared in the last eight of the continental tournament, but after narrowly edging past Iran’s Tractorsazi Tabriz 5-4 on aggregate in the previous round, Serbian Jovanovic will take a confident side into the clash at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium.

But the Emiratis will be without the suspended Jires Kembo-Ekoko after the midfielder picked up a late booking against Tractorsazi.

“It’s a very important match, a very tough game for both teams,” said Jovanovic. “One of the two teams will go to the semi-finals, so that’s our target.

“For our team, tomorrow is a big day. It is the first time we have reached the quarter-finals, and we will try to reach the semi-finals.”

After losing their opening game in the competition, Al Nasr then went five matches unbeaten to qualify for the knockout phase as Group A runners-up.

ACL Quarter-finals: KEY PLAYER: JIRES KEMBO EKOKO – Al Nasr

Jovanovic’s team then put in a dominant display in their first ever last 16 tie as a brace from Salem Saleh helped them to a 4-1 home win over Tractorsazi.

Salem scored early in the return fixture, but Al Nasr then had to withstand a second-half fightback as a 3-1 defeat eventually saw them advance to the quarter-finals and book a date with El Jaish, who overcame Lekhwiya in an all Qatari last 16 encounter.

“El Jaish are an excellent team,” added Jovanovic. “They showed this in the group stage and they showed it again against Lekhwiya.

“But as I said before, we will do our best to qualify for the next round.”

Al Nasr have only appeared in the AFC Champions League on two previous occasions, when they were eliminated in the group stage in both 2012 and 2013.

“We have had good preparation,” said defender Ahmed Al Yassi, who also scored in the 4-1 victory over Tractorsazi.

“We have trained in Dubai and in Poland for 14 days, and we have trained in high temperatures. New players have joined us and we hope they can add value to the team.”

Photo: Lagardère Sports