ACL MD5 - Group D: El Jaish v Al Ahli preview

Published on: 18 April 2016

Doha: Christian Gross’ Al Ahli will be boosted by the return from injury of defender Motaz Hawsawi as the Saudi Arabian side set out to pick up a much needed when his side take on already qualified El Jaish in Group D of the AFC Champions League on Tuesday.

Hawsawi, who last featured in the ACL against Al Ain in the UAE (pictured) has recovered from injury to return to the squad, but former Tottenham Hotspur manager Gross will be without suspended duo Waleed Bakshwn and Fahad Al Yamani after both players picked up their second yellow cards of the group stages in the 2-1 loss against Al Ain in Jeddah on Matchday Four.

“We are going into the match with one ambition which is to win and get the three points in order to maintain our chances of qualifying to the Round of 16,” said Gross, whose side beat Hajar 1-0 in the Saudi league on Saturday. “The defeat against Al Ain weakened our chances but our focus now is only on the El Jaish match.

“Our opponents are considered one of the best teams in the group and they have already secured their place in the knockout stage. We have a lot of pressure as we are also battling for the league title but hopefully we can get a good result tomorrow that will give us a big boost.”

While Al Ahli lead their domestic league by three points from Al Hilal, they are bottom of Group D with just three points and must achieve a better result than that recorded by Al Ain in their game against Uzbekistan’s Nasaf to stay alive until the final round of group matches.

El Jaish, meanwhile, have already booked their place in the next phase of the competition having only failed to win one of their four games so far and victory over Al Ahli will guarantee top spot for Sabri Lamouchi’s side.

The Qataris drew 2-2 with former AFC Champions League winners Al Sadd in the Qatar Stars League on Friday and the head coach is determined to pick up all three points on Tuesday.

“Despite securing our place in the knockout stage, we will be still working with the same approach that we previously had and hopefully we can get the three points against Al Ahli,” said Lamouchi. “We want to remain on top of the group although the next match will not be easy.

“We have a lot of information on our opponents and we know that they have several good players. We have performed well in the competition so far and our ambition is to go as far as possible.”

Photo: Lagardère Sports

Source: the-afc.com

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