Thu, 28 Oct, 2021

Kuala Lumpur: After a week without AFC Champions League action, the 16 teams in the West Zone return for Matchday Three on Monday and Tuesday.
The sides in Groups A and C are first up when they take to the field on Monday, while those in Groups B and D will take their turn a day later.
https://www.the-afc.com/en/more/photo/group_a_2_2.html




Thu, 28 Oct, 2021

Kuala Lumpur: Persepolis striker Ali Alipour started his 2018 AFC Champions League campaign in style and his side will rely on him to replicate his league form on the continental stage to fire them to glory.
Persepolis’ run to the 2017 AFC Champions League semi-finals introduced Asian football fans to striker Mehdi Taremi who finished the campaign with seven goals, a tally bettered only by Al-Hilal’s Omar Khrbin and Brazilian duo Rafael Silva and Hulk.
But by January 2018, Taremi had departed for Qatar, joining Al Gharafa on an 18-month deal. With a transfer ban in place on Persepolis, the Tehran-based side had to find a replacement from within as they looked to mount a title defence on the domestic front, as well as a second consecutive continental challenge.
Ali Alipour had started six games in last season’s AFC Champions League, scoring once in the second leg of the quarter-finals against Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli, but coach Branko Ivankovic saw in the 23-year-old the man to replace Taremi in his attack.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021

Jeddah: Often an understudy to Omar Al Somah, Al Ahli’s Mohanad Assiri has finally gotten his chance in the Syrian striker’s absence and looks to seal a starting spot for club and country.
Mohannad Assiri’s Al Ahli career has been intertwined with that of Omar Al Somah since the very beginning. The 31-year-old arrived at the club from Al Shabab in August 2014, a month after the arrival of his Syrian teammate. Since then Assiri has constantly played second fiddle to Al Somah.
When news emerged in late December that Al Somah had suffered a serious ankle injury that would keep him out for three months, Al Ahli fans feared their entire season was in danger of falling apart. After all, Al Somah was the league’s top goal scorer for the past three years and had already netted 10 league goals for them this season.
But in their talisman’s absence, forward stepped Assiri, confident that he had found the perfect opportunity to present his credentials as an equally prolific poacher.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021

Doha: Al Sadd continued their great start to the AFC Champions League with a 3-1 win at home over Persepolis on Matchday Two.
The 2011 champions followed up their Matchday One win over Al Wasl with a solid performance against Persepolis at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, picking up their second straight win courtesy yet another brace from Baghdad Bounedjah.
Bounedjah strikes again for Al Sadd
After coming off the bench to score twice and deliver an Al Sadd comeback win over Al Wasl in Dubai last week, Bounedjah showcased his array of abilities once again with two well-taken goals against Persepolis.
While the first goal had Bounedjah hoodwinking an entire defence with a stealthy run, his second saw him show great composure while facing two defenders head-on, before calmly slotting home to make it 2-0.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021

Kashiwa: Tianjin Quanjian left it late to rescue a point in a 1-1 draw with Kashiwa Reysol at the Kashiwa Soccer Stadium on Tuesday.
The visitors rode their luck, but a late strike from substitute Alexandre Pato saw them leave Japan with a valuable point in their pocket.
Pato Impact
Paulo Sousa made a big call pre-match when he decided to leave Brazilian star Pato on the bench. If it was done to elicit a response from the former AC Milan star then it worked a treat.
Sousa pulled him on late in the first half, bringing Pato off the bench in the 37th minute, and he made an immediate impact, giving life to a Tianjin Quanjian side that had looked a little lifeless up until that point.
While he only registered 10 passes, it was the work he did off the ball and the little deft touches that made all the difference. As evidenced by his attacking graph (below), while he didn’t amass a large number of passes, those he did make were almost always moving forward.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021

Kuala Lumpur: With two rounds of fixtures now already past, the AFC Champions League is back in full swing as the midway point of the group stage rapidly approaches.
After more thrills and spills on Matchday Two, the continental competition takes a two-week break, while the-AFC.com takes a look back at some of the key statistics from the week that was.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021

Kuala Lumpur: The-AFC.com has announced that Taiseer Al Jassam of Al Ahli is the winner of this week’s Goal of the Week presented by Allianz for Matchday Two of the 2018 AFC Champions League after a public vote on the AFC’s official website.