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AFC Champions League Preview: Match Day 2

After a difficult and disappointing opening round of the AFC Champions League group stages for all but one UAE club, our teams will be hoping to fare better on match day two, with three fixtures taking place on home turf.

On Tuesday Al Shabab will play host to Pakhtakor of Uzbekistan at the Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum Stadium, kicking off at 7:15pm. Marcos Paqueta’s side played well in their opening encounter at Lekhwiya in Qatar, and can consider themselves unlucky to have suffered a 2-1 defeat to begin their group campaign. Opponents Pakhtakor got off to winning ways, recording a 1-0 home victory over Saudi Arabia’s Al Ettifaq, which puts them second in Group B on three points, whilst Al Shabab are currently third. Having suffered a shock 2-0 defeat to Al Dhafra in the Etisalat Pro League on Thursday, Al Shabab will be looking to get back on track by making their home advantage count as they go in search of their first win in the AFC Champions League group stages.

Tuesday night’s other game involving a UAE side sees Al Jazira welcome Al Shabab of Saudi Arabia to the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, with kick-off scheduled for 7:30pm. Al Jazira suffered an opening day defeat at the hostile home ground of Tractorsazi Tabriz, surrendering 3-1 in new coach Luis Milla’s first game at the helm. The Spaniard has still yet to preside over a win, and will hope to change that against the Saudi side who started their campaign with a 2-0 home victory over El Jaish of Qatar. The visitors are currently second in Group A, whilst Al Jazira are one place below with no points on the board yet.

Wednesday night sees the UAE’s only winners of the opening round – Al Ain – travel to a very tough fixture away at Esteghlal of Iran. Al Ain sit top of Group D as the only side in the group to secure three points on the first match day in an impressive 3-1 victory over Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal, with goals from Omar Abdulrahman, Alex Brosque and Asamoah Gyan. Meanwhile, Esteghlal are third in the group after recording a 3-3 draw away at Al Rayyan of Qatar to start their AFC Champions League campaign. Al Ain’s players will have to deal with the intense atmosphere that comes with visiting any Iranian club, as the Azadi Stadium in Tehran boasts a capacity of 100,000, and the game is due to get underway at 7:30pm UAE time.

Concluding the UAE contingent, Al Nasr have a home fixture at the Al Maktoum Stadium on Wednesday night, with Al Ahli of Saudi Arabia the visitors at 8pm. Al Nasr have been in variable form in the Etisalat Pro League over recent weeks, and suffered defeat in their AFC Champions League Group C opener as they lost 3-0 away at Sepahan of Iran, despite the game being a tighter contest than the scoreline might suggest. Walter Zenga’s men will be keen not to let any points slip at their own ground as they look to lift themselves up from the bottom of the group, but it will not be an easy task as Al Ahli ran out 2-0 winners over Al Gharafa of Qatar in their opening match.