Al Hilal begins its Asian campaign with a 2-1 victory over Al Gharafa of Qatar

Serbian Sergej Savic, Al Hilal player, expressed his great happiness after launching the continental campaign with a victory over Al Gharafa of Qatar (2-1).

Savic said during the press conference after the confrontation: A good start for us in the tournament. We achieved an important victory, and we created many chances throughout the match, and although we conceded a goal in the last minute, I am very happy to get the three points.

The Hilali midfielder added about his continental ambition with the team: During my career with the team, we did not succeed in achieving the Asian title, and this year we will strive with all strength and diligence to win it.

Savic concluded his statements by talking about his satisfaction with the club, saying: I am very happy to be at Al Hilal Club, and with the step of renewing my contract with the club during the recent period.

Italian Simone Inzaghi, coach of Al Hilal, expressed his satisfaction with his team’s perfect start in the AFC Elite Champions League following its victory over Al Gharafa of Qatar.

Inzaghi said during the press conference after the match: It was a tough match against a team that defended greatly, but in the end we were able to score and did exactly what was required of us.

He added: We were not supposed to concede the goal in the last moments. We tried our best to get a clean sheet, but we had no success.

In response to a question about his assessment of Simon Bouabry’s level and the reason for his replacement during the match, the Al Hilal coach explained: He was suffering from some minor muscle tension, so I preferred to replace him. He is a player with very high skills and abilities who performs excellently on the field.

Inzaghi touched on the club’s support for Ruben Neves after the Al-Taawoun match incident, saying: We are all very close to the player Nevez, and we tried to contain him and support him after what happened. It was unfortunate, but in the end Neves knows very well that we all stand around him and support him.

Regarding the absences, Al Hilal’s technical director noted: Salem Al-Dosari, Theo Hernandez, and Ali Lagami are very important players for the team, and we hope that they will return to readiness and participate with us after the international break ends.

He continued: We added a number of new players to the team roster during the last period to raise the team’s level and increase competitiveness, especially Mohamed Mahzri, who provided us with an excellent solution in the right-back position, which we suffered a lot from last season.

Simone Inzaghi concluded the press conference, saying: We started the season very well. We achieved 8 victories against only one loss, and we will make every effort to continue teamwork to fight the remaining entitlements and confrontations to come.

Portuguese Pedro Martinez, the Qatari coach of Al-Gharafa, admitted that technical differences played a role in Al-Hilal’s 2-1 victory over his team at the beginning of their campaign in the AFC Elite Champions League.

Martinez said during the press conference after the confrontation: We came here to play a competitive match and come out with a positive result. Our start to the match was good, but after the clear penalty kick was awarded to Al Hilal, they were able to manage the match as they wanted.

Al-Gharafa coach added, explaining the impact of the expulsion and the circumstances of the confrontation: It is true that the two cases of expulsion were on both sides, but the case of expulsion undoubtedly affected us. I can't blame the players at all because we played against one of the best teams in the Asian continent.

Martins touched on the technical differences and refereeing decisions, saying: Our team was playing well, and there were things that happened related to the team’s readiness in the recent period. The technical differences between us and Al Hilal are great, and the changes I made were correct. I also think we had a penalty kick that the referee did not award.

Pedro Martinez concluded his statements with a technical evaluation of his competitor, saying: There are not many weak points in Al Hilal; It is a cohesive team and has great players such as Ruben Neves and Sergei Savic. The new recruitments have added a lot to them, and perhaps the only weakness is the presence of some spaces at the back when they rush to attack.