Al Gharafa players in action during a training session.
Doha, Qatar: Al Gharafa need to halt their slide when they host Iran’s Esteghlal in the AFC Champions League Elite today, with coach Pedro Martins demanding a fighting spirit from the reigning Amir Cup champions.
The match at Thani Bin Jassim Stadium kicks off at 9:15pm Doha time, with Al Gharafa under pressure after losing their opening continental match to Al Hilal 2-1.
In their last Qatar Stars League outing, they suffered a defeat to Al Wakrah, leaving them 10th in the standings with four points from five matches in the top flight.
Esteghlal, by contrast, arrive after a convincing 3-0 victory over Al Sadd and will be looking to maintain their winning start.
“We are facing an important and difficult match, and we are required to do our best to restore balance and achieve a good result,” Martins said at a press conference yesterday.
“We must show a high fighting spirit in such matches that bring us together with teams that have great technical abilities. Our focus is on reducing mistakes and working to develop our level in all matches, whether Asian or domestic league.
“We will face a strong team that we saw perform well against Al Sadd, and it is always the small details that make the difference in such matches.”
Esteghlal coach Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh said his team were determined to build on their impressive start.
“We are looking forward to continuing the positive results and achieving our second victory in the tournament, and we have prepared well for the match,” he said.
“Our strong start in our last match against Al Sadd will be a great motivator for us, and all the team members are striving to double their efforts and perform as required. We understand that Al Gharafa will be playing to make amends. They have good players, and the match will be played on their home ground in front of their fans.”
Al Shamal’s Prats confident ahead of Tractor test
Al Shamal face an away test against Iran’s Tractor FC at Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Muscat, with kick-off at 7pm Doha time.
Making their debut in the competition, Al Shamal came close to beating Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittihad in their opener, taking the lead through Baghdad Bounedjah before Georginio Wijnaldum scored a stoppage-time equaliser. They suffered a 4-0 defeat to Al Duhail in their last QSL match.
Coach David Prats is confident his side can put that loss behind them and reproduce the performance they showed against Al Ittihad.
“We have a tough match ahead of us against a great team, so the match will not be easy at all,” Prats said.
“We are ready for the match, and our preparations have not differed much from our preparations for the first match in the tournament against Al Ittihad.We are well aware that all matches will be difficult in a major tournament like the AFC Champions League, which includes the highest levels in the Asian continent.”
Prats said the domestic defeat would not affect his team’s continental campaign, stressing that the two competitions presented different challenges. He confirmed Mohammed Omar would miss the match through injury, while the fitness of Bounedjah remained to be assessed.
“I have complete confidence in the Al Shamal players who are with the team, and we are looking forward to a good performance and a positive result,” he said.
Tractor lost their opening match 1-0 to UAE’s Shabab Al Ahli, with an early Yuri Cesar goal settling the contest.
