Riyadh: Al Hilal coach Georgios Donis has called on his team to maintain their defensive focus for the full 90 minutes as the two-time Asian Club Championship winners prepare to face Al Jazira of the United Arab Emirates in Group C of the AFC Champions League on Wednesday.
The Saudi Arabian giants sit in second place on five points after three games, one behind leaders Tractorsazi Tabriz, but threw away two points in their previous meeting with Al Jazira when Fariz Juma scored four minutes into stoppage time to earn the Emiratis a 1-1 draw.
It was the second time in three games Al Hilal had conceded in the dying minutes having drawn with Pakhtakor in similar circumstances on Matchday One and Greek coach Donis will ask his players to show greater focus in front of their own fans.
“The match is very important for us as we have only five points from the previous three matches and we have to get the three points if we want to maintain our chances to go through to the next round,” said Donis (pictured), whose side won 3-0 over Al Khaleej in domestic action on Saturday.
“We will work on preventing the goals that we concede towards the end of matches as this was one of the weaknesses. I always ask the players to show good concentration and hopefully they can give their best in the match tomorrow.”
Al Jazira will have midfielder Yaqoub Yousif available after missing the previous game in Abu Dhabi due to suspension and, having collected only one point so far, coach Henk ten Cate knows his side need a positive result.
“Al Hilal are the best team in the group and they have good history,” said the Dutchman. “We were very lucky to get a point at home against Al Hilal, who were the better side, and I will be very satisfied if we get another positive result tomorrow.
“After the previous match, we didn't play any matches locally and this has affected. Despite this, we have tried our best to prepare the team, while our opponents played a match recently and they had a good performance.”
Photo: Lagardère Sports
Source: the-afc.com