Today at 20:00 all eyes will be on the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, where a long-awaited rivalry takes place between Al Ain and guests from Saudi Arabia - Hilal with Neymar returning after his injury. This match is the third round of the AFC Champions League. In the star camp, calm reigns before this encounter, which worries the guests, especially considering the same setup that took place before the last match between the teams in April last year. Then the 'Eagles' defeated the 'Blues' with a score of 4-2, bringing them their first victory in the semifinals, followed by a disastrous defeat of 1-2 in the 'away' leg.
The echoes of the previous rivalry still sound among fans of both teams, reflected in high demand for tickets that were distributed less than an hour, which clearly indicates the importance of the game. The hosts are striving to repeat the victory over Hilal, who is, in turn, hoping to recover from that defeat.
Al Ain restored parity before today's match, having beaten Khatta 4-0 in the President's Cup. This happened after two consecutive defeats against Qatari Al-Ghafra and Al-Uhda in the AFC Champions League and the Al-Adnook League.
Al Ain received a significant break compared to the Saudi club. The team's head coach Ernan Krespo went out on the field while his teammate had an intense match against Al-Faikh in the Saudi league last Friday and barely made it to the UAE in time.
It is expected that the 'violet' squad will undergo significant changes compared to the team that took the field against Al-Ghafra in the last tournament. In the attacking phase, the team seems to rely on Togolese forward Laba Kodjo, while Sofiane Rahimi, the Moroccan, returns to the edge of the field.
On the other hand, everything indicates that Hilal has every chance to win due to the stability of their results and the quality of their players, including stars like Neymar. However, reality still remains precariously shifting, as it was in the last match at the same stadium, where the 'Blues' entered with high chances but suffered a historic defeat.
