Al Sadd coach Roberto Mancini speaks during a press conference.
Doha, Qatar: Al Sadd SC will be fighting to keep their hopes alive when they host Shabab Al Ahli in the AFC Champions League Elite today.
The Qatari side ended Matchday Five 11th in the standings with just two points while UAE’s Shabab Al Ahli will confirm their Round of 16 spot with victory.
Roberto Mancini’s first continental match in charge of Al Sadd ended in 3-1 defeat to UAE’s Al Wahda FC and the Italian tactician will be expecting a more resilient performance from his charges.
“I expect a tough match, and it’s very important for us. We have some problems before facing Shabab Al Ahli in this match. We lost some players due to their participation in the Africa Cup of Nations and also due to injury, but we will be ready for the match regardless,”
Mancini said in the press conference yesterday.
The Al Sadd coach continued: “I think Romain Saïss’s injury with the Moroccan national team is minor. In football, you can’t say ‘impossible.’ Yes, we are in a low position in the standings, but we have to do everything we can to get back on track.”
He added: “These things aren’t easy, but we will try. Yes, I’ve gotten to know the players well, and we haven’t trained together until recently. Despite the injuries, we will be ready for the Shabab Al Ahli match.”
Al Sadd player Giovanni Henrique said the team is looking forward to putting on a good performance after returning to domestic and continental activity following the long break.
“We hope the match ends with a good result for us,” the Brazilian said.
Giovanni added: “I expect a tough match for both sides. We, as players, are ready and have trained well this past week. I’m happy with my performance and I think the match will be good for us as players.”
The sides will be meeting for the first time since 2014 but Al Sadd are not only winless on the continental stage this season but have lost their last three matches.
On the other hand, victories have not been a problem for Shabab Al Ahli, with three wins out of five.
Two more victories will see them equalling their best run ever on the continental stage and with Al Sadd struggling for consistency, Shabab Al Ahli will be confident of securing progress into the next stage
