Al-Hilal Saudi Arabia will host Al-Shamal of Qatar, on Tuesday, at Al-Bayt Stadium in Al-Khor, Qatar, in a confrontation that brings them together in the third round of the league stage for the West region in the AFC Champions League for the Elite, setting its sights on achieving its third victory in a row, and maintaining its perfect record, in a match in which the hosts seek to achieve their first victory in their historic participation in the tournament.
Al-Hilal enters the confrontation in high spirits, after regaining the top spot in the Saudi Professional League with its exciting victory over Al-Qadisiyah with a score of 3-2, in a match during which the team demonstrated its ability to overcome difficult tests and resolve confrontations against direct competitors.
The capital team is looking forward to transferring its local momentum to the continental arena, and continuing its strong start in the tournament, which it aspires to regain its title, after achieving the full score in the first two rounds, raising its score to six points, and occupying third place in the Western Region standings, with goal difference from teams equal to it in the score.
Al Hilal had begun its journey by defeating Qatar's Al Gharafa with two goals to one, before beating Qatar's Al Sadd with two goals to none.
Italian Simone Inzaghi, Al Hilal's coach, hopes to continue the positive results despite the match pressure his team faces, especially after the strong confrontation against Al-Qadisiyah, which witnessed great physical effort from a number of players.
After the victory over Al-Qadisiyah, Inzaghi indicated signs of fatigue appearing on some members of his team, stressing the importance of assessing their readiness before the Asian confrontation, in light of the close match dates, and the need to maintain both physical and technical balance.
Al Hilal will be missing the services of Dutchman Crescencio Summerville due to a three-match suspension, which forces the technical staff to look for alternative options to compensate for his absence, while taking advantage of the elements the team possesses in various positions.
The confrontation carries additional importance for Al Hilal in view of its remarkable record in the league stage and the group stage of the Asian Championship, as it did not suffer any loss during the last 24 matches it played in these two stages, achieving 21 victories and three draws, in the longest series of its kind for any team.
Al Hilal also enters the match armed with a distinguished record against Qatari clubs, after maintaining its record undefeated in its last ten matches, during which it achieved eight victories and two draws, which strengthens its ambitions to continue its superiority when it meets Al Shamal for the first time in its history.
Al Hilal has brilliant names in its ranks, led by the English striker Watkins, in addition to the Brazilian player Gabriel Martinelli, the Serbian Sergei Savic, and the Portuguese Ruben Neves, in addition to the star Salem Al Dosari, who returns to participate again after being away due to injury since the beginning of the season, as well as the Moroccan Yassine Bounou, who represents a great source of safety in goalkeeping.
The match represents an opportunity for the Saudi team to achieve its third victory in the first three rounds, after it succeeded in opening its continental career with two victories for the third season in a row, an indicator that reflects its ability to deal with the Asian beginnings and maintain its competitive presence.
On the other hand, Al-Shamal goes into the confrontation with different ambitions, as it seeks to achieve its first victory in its first continental participation, after exiting with a draw in its two previous matches, to collect two points, and occupy tenth place in the Western Region standings.
The Qatari team had opened its campaign with a 1-1 draw with Al-Ittihad, before repeating the result against Uzbekistan's Neftchi, showing its ability to compete despite its lack of continental experience, compared to a number of participating clubs.
Al-Shamal hopes to invest the ground staff and the fans to achieve a positive result against one of the continent’s most prominent clubs, especially since facing Al-Hilal represents a real test of the team’s capabilities and the extent of its readiness to confront the teams nominated to compete for the title.
Al-Shamal has among its ranks Algerian Riyad Mahrez, who enters the tournament with the memory of winning the last two editions with the Saudi Al-Ahly team, as Mahrez looks forward to making his mark with the team in the tournament.
However, the Qatari team enters the confrontation after a decline in its results locally, as it suffered a loss in its last match in the Qatari League, at a time when it occupies fifth place with nine points from seven matches, which increases the difficulty of its task against a competitor who is experiencing a state of stability in terms of results.
Al-Shamal finds itself facing a major defensive challenge against Al-Hilal, which has the ability to create opportunities and diversify offensive solutions, in addition to its experience in dealing with external matches and the pressures that accompany them.
The Qatari team may resort to narrowing spaces and relying on quick offensive transitions, in an effort to reduce Al Hilal’s danger and exploit the opportunities that may be available to it, especially since a positive result against the Saudi team will give it a great morale boost in the rest of its continental career.
On the other hand, Al Hilal realizes that maintaining its perfect record requires dealing seriously with the competitor, and not being satisfied with the advantage of experience and capabilities, especially since Al Shamal succeeded in grabbing two points from the first two rounds against Al Ittihad and Neftchi.
NEOM Saudi Arabia is looking forward to continuing its strong start in the Gulf Champions Club Championship, when it visits Al-Shabab Al Omani, on Tuesday, in the second round of Group A, looking to achieve its second victory in a row and maintain the lead in the group, benefiting from the morale boost it received after restoring the tone of victories in the Saudi Professional League.
NEOM enters the confrontation leading the standings of the first group with three points, after starting its journey in the Gulf Championship with a wide victory over the Yemeni people of Hadhramaut with four goals to no return, ahead of the goal difference over Al-Duhail of Qatar, who in turn achieved a 3-0 victory against Al-Shabab of Oman.
NEOM hopes to capitalize on its ideal start to strengthen its position at the top of the group, and move one step closer to qualifying for the next round, especially since winning away from home will give it an important advantage before completing the rest of the group stage matches.
The confrontation comes at an appropriate time for NEOM, which succeeded in overcoming a series of negative results at the local level, after defeating Abha with two goals to nothing in the eleventh round of the Saudi Professional League, to return to the path of victories after three matches during which it did not know the taste of victory.
NEOM had tied with Al-Hazm, before suffering two successive losses to Al-Ettifaq and Al-Nasr, but it regained its balance against Abha, in a confrontation that witnessed the brilliance of the Algerian duo Saeed Benrahma and the Frenchman Alexandre Lacazette, who exchanged goals and assists.
NEOM is counting on the good technical condition shown by its players against Abha, especially on the offensive side, after the team succeeded in investing in the opportunities it had, in addition to maintaining a clean sheet, which gives it an additional impetus before facing the Omani youth.
NEOM aspires to combine its positive results locally and continentally, especially since achieving a new victory in the Gulf Championship will strengthen its confidence in its ability to compete for the title, in its participation through which it seeks to prove its presence outside local competitions.
On the other hand, Al-Shabab Al-Omani enters the confrontation in search of its first points in the tournament, after starting its journey with a loss to Al-Duhail of Qatar with three goals to none, finding itself facing a difficult test against the leaders of the group.
The Omani team realizes that a second loss will put it in a difficult position during the rest of the rounds, which makes it required to benefit from the ground staff and the audience to achieve a positive result that gives it hope of competing for one of the qualification cards.
The match carries double importance for NEOM, which is looking to maintain the goal difference that gave it the lead in the group, in light of the direct competition with Al-Duhail of Qatar, which has the same point balance.
The first group competitions will continue on Wednesday, when Al-Duhail of Qatar meets its counterpart, Shaab Hadhramout of Yemen.
Al-Duhail had begun its campaign in the Gulf Championship by defeating Al-Shabab of Oman with three goals to none, collecting three points and occupying second place on goal difference behind NEOM.
The Qatari team is going into the confrontation in high spirits, after defeating Lusail by a score of 3-1 in the seventh round of the Qatari League, achieving its third successive victory in various competitions, which gives it an additional impetus to continue its positive results.
It is expected that Algerian Djamel Belmadi, coach of Al-Duhail, will make some changes to his squad, by giving the opportunity to a number of players who did not participate in the last local confrontation, while preserving the basic elements capable of deciding the match.
As for the people of Hadhramaut, they are looking to compensate for their heavy loss to NEOM with a clean 4-0 win in the opening round, and achieve a positive result that will restore confidence to them, despite the difficulty of the task against Al-Duhail, which showed clear superiority in its first match.
