Roberto Mancini gestures after Al Sadd beat Al Hilal in the Round of 16 on Monday night. RIGHT: Al Sadd players celebrate their victory after penalty shootout.
Doha, Qatar: Coach Roberto Mancini heaped praise on Al Sadd SC after their outstanding display secured a place in the AFC Champions League Elite Finals Jeddah 2026 on Monday.
The Qatari side showed tremendous resilience, coming from behind three times to force extra time after a thrilling 3-3 draw, before overcoming favourites Al Hilal SFC 4-2 in a dramatic penalty shootout.
“The players put on a fantastic and strong performance, and I congratulate them on this result," said Italian tactician Mancini after the match.
"Beating Al Hilal was difficult because we were playing against what is considered the strongest team in Asia,”
“In this tournament, there are strong and high-level teams like Al Hilal, Al Ahli (Saudi FC) and Al Ittihad (Club) and they are all striving to win this title. We, however, are also a good team and we play good football, and we will see what happens in the end.”
While Al Sadd can look forward to a quarter-final against Japan’s Vissel Kobe tomorrow, Al Hilal’s dreams of yet another continental title were dashed with head coach Simone Inzaghi admitting his disappointment that they were unable to see out the tie despite dominating in the thrilling battle.
“We all saw how the match unfolded, and we apologise to the Al Hilal fans for our loss. We knew what was important for us, but luck wasn’t on our side,” said Inzaghi.
“The team played with commitment, tried everything and scored three goals. We also had many opportunities to take the lead - both in regulation time and extra time - but the opposing team was resolute.”
The Italian tactician vowed that Al Hilal would bounce back from the disappointment.
“Considering the number of chances we had, we deserved to qualify for the quarter-finals. We need time to overcome this loss, but in football, you have to have targets and now we must focus on achieving our next objectives.
“We still have two competitions to play for - the King’s Cup, where we have reached the final, and the league, where we still have six matches remaining. Despite this, we are disappointed to have been eliminated from the AFC Champions League,” the Al Hilal coach added.
