Today, Al Ahli's youth team hosts their Qatari counterpart, Al Gharrafa, at Rashid Stadium in Dubai at 8:00 PM local time. The match is part of the 5th round of the AFC Champions League (Elite) and holds special significance for both teams in the race to secure one of the qualifying spots for the group stage.
Al Ahli enters this match with the necessity of achieving a win to compensate for their surprising loss in the previous round to Qatari's Al-Duhail with a score of 1-4. This result complicated the team's calculations in the group, freezing their points tally at seven, which placed them in fifth position.
Despite having a strong chance to return to the competition, the team is required to leverage the home-field advantage and the support of the fans to secure a positive result that restores their balance in the tournament.
In contrast, Al Gharrafa faces the match in a more difficult position, having collected only three points from four matches and suffering three defeats. The Qatari team finds itself in ninth place in the group and needs a positive result to improve its situation and halt the negative streak.
On the domestic front, Al Ahli approaches the match with better morale after successfully defeating Khorfakkan 1-0 in the previous round of the ADNOC Pro League. This victory gave the team a significant morale boost before today's continental encounter.
Portuguese coach Paulo Sousa is counting on technical stability and physical readiness to regain the strength of the team's attacking force that was absent against Al-Duhail. The players are aware that a victory at Rashid Stadium will be the key to staying in the competition in the West Asian group, which is led by Saudi Al-Hilal with a perfect record (12 points from four wins).
Al Ahli has been significantly impacted by the absence of their top scorer from last season, Iranian striker Sardar Azmoun, who suffered a serious injury that will keep him off the pitch for a long time. This situation has forced coach Paulo Sousa to seek alternative attacking solutions to compensate for the absence of a player who is considered one of the team's most important strength elements.
