“Al Ahli succeeded in achieving what was required by winning and securing qualification to the Round of 16,” said Jaissle. 

“Today's match was as difficult as we expected, Al Ain are characterised by their strength in offensive transitions, but in the end, we achieved victory, and I am happy about this.”

Despite the milestone victory, Jaissle highlighted the need for reinforcements to maintain Al Ahli’s momentum in the competition.

“The team needs strong reinforcements in the winter transfer period,” said Jaissle, whose side have struggled to reproduce their continental form on the domestic stage. 

Al Ain head coach Leonardo Jardim expressed mixed emotions after the defeat left his team at the bottom of the standings with just a point.

"I am sad about the loss to Al Ahli, but I am happy with the performance we presented for 70 minutes,” said the newly appointed Jardim. “It is natural that I will be criticised because of the formation, but if we had achieved victory, I would have been praised.

“Our plan was to use Kaku in the second half because of his ability to turn things around. I trained the Al Ain players in only two sessions after the international break.”

Despite the defeat, Jardim remained confident of his team’s prospects.

“We will play to achieve victory in all our remaining matches, and I am confident in the players' abilities to take us to the next stage.”

Al Ain meet Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor next week while Al Ahli take on Esteghlal FC of the Islamic Republic of Iran.