Tonight is the date of the anticipated summit… and the meeting of the elders… and the meeting of the (leaders)… the summit of the Qatari leader Al-Sadd… and the Saudi leader Al-Hilal… and the Asian football summit, which will attract attention and attention continentally and in the Gulf, as well as locally, as it is a match of a special nature, in which victory is considered the most precious and considered the most expensive. The most important thing is the special tournament that brings together the two great leaders who aspire to regain the title and not just qualify for the final rounds of the tournament.
The upcoming Asian summit will be hosted by Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Al Sadd, starting at seven in the evening, within the fifth round of the elite AFC Champions League. Al Sadd enters the match with 8 points in fourth place, and Al Hilal is in the lead with the full score and with 12 points.
The match is extremely important for both teams, which will make it extremely difficult and intense, as Al-Sadd is competing strongly to reserve its place in the round of 16, and Al-Hilal wants to confirm its lead and also its qualification.
Al-Sadd is in good spirits with its continued victories in the Stars League, the last of which was five wins over Al-Khor, while Al-Hilal received a strong shock with its unexpected loss in the Saudi League against Al-Khaleej, which is its first loss in the league and the first loss in a long time.
Despite some absences that Al-Sadd suffer from, especially on the right front, with the injury of Abdullah Al-Yazidi and before him Pedro Miguel, and the absence of its dangerous scorer, the Spanish Mujica, Al-Sadd has never been affected by any absences, and it also has very good players, led by Akram Afif, the best player in Asia and Al-Aql. The team’s thinker and playmaker, who bears a great responsibility for penetrating the Crescent defense with the fast right winger Giovanni Henrique, Mohamed Camara, and Andres Villa, and with them Youssef. Abdul Razzaq and Cristo Ramon.
Al Sadd may also support the two stars tonight, the Brazilian Otavio, who returned to group training, and the Algerian Abdel Samad Bou Nacer, who participated for the first time in the final minutes against Al Khor.
But Al-Sadd’s mission will not stop at the point of attack, as the defense and then the midfield bear a large part of the factors in victory today, especially since Al-Hilal is armed with dangerous offensive weapons, especially the Serbian Aleksandar Mitrovic, the team’s top scorer, Sergio Milinkovic, the midfield captain, and the Saudi striker Salem Al-Dosari, who is well known to Al-Saddawiya.
Sanchez: An important and difficult continental entitlement
Spanish coach Felix Sanchez, coach of Al Sadd, confirmed that his team is fully prepared to face Al Hilal Saudi Arabia.
The Al-Sadd coach added in a statement during the press conference that preceded the confrontation: We are facing a very difficult confrontation against the leaders of the continental championship standings, and we certainly want to present a good match, especially since we are playing on our home soil and among our fans, and we are looking forward to achieving a satisfactory result, as we believe in the team’s capabilities.
Sanchez explained: Without a doubt, today’s match is a great challenge for us, and we realize the difficulty of the task facing Al Hilal, which includes high-quality elements, and we want to show a satisfactory image.
Regarding his opinion of the opponent, Spanish coach Sanchez said: I think that every team has a deficiency in its ranks, and the absence of Ruben Neves from the opponent is influential, and we must focus greatly and choose the appropriate formation to deal with the match despite the presence of some players suffering from injuries, and if we play at our usual level, the match will be one of the best. Our share.
At the conclusion of his statements, the Al-Sadd coach expressed his great confidence in his team’s capabilities, adding: Achieving good results was the result of great work from everyone, and we must realize that we are facing an important continental achievement, and we must continue working while we are satisfied with what the team provided during the previous period.
Jesus: There was not enough time to prepare
Al Hilal coach Jorge Jesus said that his team began preparations for the confrontation immediately after the Saudi League match, and there was not enough time between the matches, only two days, including travel, and we will face Al Sadd in the same way we are accustomed to. We trust our players and their abilities and potential, and we naturally strive to win.
He said, “We are trying to take advantage of the best conditions available to us, and this has put us in the face of Al-Sadd. I do not want to repeat that the time available for preparation is insufficient, but we are ready.” The AFC Champions League confrontations are different from the local confrontations. We lost in the Saudi League in the last match, but we are in the competition locally. We are ready on the continent to face Al-Sadd, whatever the circumstances.”
The Portuguese coach indicated in response to a question that he had hoped to win the last match (against Al-Khaleej in the Saudi League), but it is football. We performed at a high level and lost the match. There are many players’ participations, and there are interruptions of the teams and the return and the local and continental championships. Some of the players became exhausted and we continue and continue. In our work.
Khaukhi Boualem: The chances are equal
Al Sadd defender Boualem Khoukhi did not hide the difficulty of the task awaiting his team against Al Hilal, pointing out the importance of the confrontation points in the team’s path in the continental competition. The player said in the press conference held before facing Al-Hilal Saudi Arabia, “We know the importance of this confrontation and the chances are equal between the two teams. Without a doubt, Al-Hilal is a big team. We hope that we will receive great support from our fans today and our team is ready to provide the performance that satisfies their ambitions.”