Today's Edition
Hernan Crespo has praised the level of his Al Ain side, saying they deserved to advance to the Asian Champions League semi-finals after a pulsating victory over a star-studded Al Nassr in Riyadh.
Even though Al Nassr sorely missed the services of the suspended Aymeric Laporte, Luis Castro's squad featured foreign imports such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Sadio Mane and Alex Telles. Ronaldo was kept in check for mostly both legs, and only had his experience to offer from the penalty spot.
The UAE side led 3-0 on aggregate at one point of the thrilling quarter-final's second leg, only for Al Nassr to draw level and force the game to an additional 30 minutes. Sultan Al Shamsi gave Al Ain the lead again in the 103rd minute, but Ronaldo's penalty strike forced the tie to a shootout, with Al Ain ultimately prevailing 3-1. Ronaldo got his shot in, but his wayward teammates let everyone down.
Al Ain advanced to the semi-finals for the first time since 2016, four months since Crespo taking over. "I think our performance was of a really high level and if you analyse both games, we deserve to go through," said Crespo.
"Everybody watched a great game between two great opponents and we played really very well."
"We played really well and maybe, we didn't deserve to arrive to penalty kicks. We deserved to win earlier. I want to congratulate my players because they played with great personality and they showed they are a big group," said the Argentine, who led Qatar's Al Duhail SC to the AFC Champions League 2022 semi-finals.
It was Al Nassr's foreign players Miroslav Brozovic, Telles and Otavio, who failed to score in the final battle of nerves in front of the goal. Al Ain will face either Al Hilal or Al Ittihad – both from Saudi Arabia – next month. Luis Castro said he could not fault his players. "I know in football, results are the most important thing but we lost today because of injuries and individual mistakes," he said.
"We are living now in very difficult moments and I want to congratulate my players for the performance they showed today, for winning this match."
🎥 HIGHLIGHTS | 🇸🇦 Al Nassr 4️⃣-3️⃣ Al Ain 🇦🇪 (1-3 on pens)
— #ACL (@TheAFCCL) March 12, 2024
Excitement from start to finish. Goals galore in this quarter-final match up saw Al Ain squeeze past Al Nassr in what was an exhilarating game!
Match Report 🔗 https://t.co/bVNKH2ujnI#ACL | #NSRvAIN pic.twitter.com/qM3hd1GDCq
Al Nassr's frustration boiled over through Laporte in the first leg, and it happened again in the second when they were reduced to 10 men in the early minutes of extra time. Ayman Yahya was found guilty of violent conduct against Bandar Al Ahbabi, with the initial yellow card upgraded to red following a VAR review.
Despite being severely hampered by injuries and finding themselves 2-0 down, the Saudi Pro League side fought back in the final 50 minutes of regulation time. Castro said he was proud of their resilience.
"There are a lot of feelings after this match. We could have qualified, even with everything that happened in the two matches."
"We had 30 attacks while Al Ain scored from the first attack they had. We were much better in the second half but it was not to be. However, I would like to stress that despite everything, we will continue working to win titles."
In the climax, Al Ain goalkeeper Khalid Eisa made amends for a disappointing display when he saved Brozovic's opening penalty and, with Soufiane Rahimi, Kaku and Sultan Al Shamsi all converting, Otavio's miss meant Al Nassr were eliminated.
The shootout brought a dramatic end to a thrilling clash at Al Awwal Park that featured seven goals and a red card, with Al Ain building on their first-leg lead during the opening 45 minutes.
Rahimi, scorer of Al Ain's first leg winner, put the visitors in control with goals in the 28th and 45th minutes but Abdulrahman Ghareeb's strike five minutes into injury time kept Al Nassr's hopes alive. Otavio's low drive was redirected into his own goal by Khaled Eisa six minutes after the restart and Telles levelled the aggregate scores 18 minutes from time with a low free-kick that flew through a crowd of players to beat Eisa.
Ronaldo scored from the penalty spot with two minutes remaining, after the Portuguese striker was taken down in the area by Saeed Jumaa, to take the game to a shootout.
Eisa also hailed his teammates for their work ethic. "It was a really difficult and dramatic match. We expected that Al Nassr would attack from the first minute." "Our players worked really hard, and I am so proud that we remained stable and focused even after Al Nassr scored their second goal," Eisa said.
