Karshi: Uzbekistan’s Nasaf will be without suspended defender Sherzod Azamov and injured forward Ikhom Shomurodov in Tuesday’s must-win tie against visitors Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates in Group D of the AFC Champions League.
The first of two games with second-placed Al Ain, Ruzikul Berdiev’s Nasaf need all three points from the home encounter with the inaugural winners should they wish to travel to the Emirates in a fortnight’s time with their hopes of a last 16 place still alive.
But having been eliminated at the group stage in their previous two appearances in the AFC Champions League, Nasaf must hope their home form, where they are unbeaten on the continent this year, remains intact.
“Our target is to win tomorrow and we have prepared our players for this goal. We are ready for the match and both teams have an equal chance,” said Nasaf coach Berdiev (pictured).
“We have studied Al Ain in great detail and watched many of their matches in the AFC Champions League and in the UAE championship. They have many strong foreign players and members of the UAE national team.
“We will be without Azamov and Shomurodov and we will try to replace them with other players.”
Opponents Al Ain will also need to reshuffle their ranks with Mohamed Abdulrahman suspended after he picked up a second yellow card of the group stage in their 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli earlier this month.
However, Zlatko Dalic’s side are full of confidence after they turned around their dismal start to the campaign with two straight victories in Matchdays Three and Four, meaning that a win in Karshi on Tuesday would see the 2002-03 winners into the last 16 with a game to spare.
“We need just one victory to continue our battle in the tournament so, while we respect Nasaf, we will only accept three points,” said Al Ain coach Dalic.
“We didn`t expect to begin this competition so badly, but we made a good comeback in the last two matches and our target is to be successful in this year’s AFC Champions League.
“We have watched some games of Nasaf and they are strong team who play very fast and are dangerous on the flanks.
“We’ll try to play our football; to control the ball, to pass to each other and to attack. The result is important, but the fans should also like your game. This is why we try to show attractive football.”
Photo: Lagardère Sports
Source: the-afc.com