AFC
UAE’s Sharjah and Qatar’s Al Rayyan are braced for a collision course when they meet in Group A of the AFC Champions League™ 2022 on Friday.
Both teams, who have never met before in the AFC Champions League, are level on points having picked up a win and a defeat with Sharjah sitting above Al Rayyan on goal difference.
Sharjah began their campaign with a 2-1 defeat against defending champions Al Hilal SFC of Saudi Arabia before a second half rally from Brazilian duo Ciao and Bernard saw the Emirati side defeat FC Istiklol 2-1.
Head coach Cosmin Olaroiu is confident of defeating Al Rayyan on with the Romanian saying that Sharjah are ready to put up a fight against the Qatari side, who have lost their last five games against UAE clubs.
“The players are recovering well despite playing two games and it has been a challenge to get everyone back to match fitness,” said Olaroiu.
“We know Al Rayyan are a good side. They have good quality players and some talented young ones with huge potential. However, it’s very important that we find a way to defeat them and qualify from this group."
“Tomorrow’s match will not be easy but we will try our best to achieve a positive result. Every game is important for Sharjah and even though it’s difficult to compete with Al Hilal, we can challenge the other teams.
“We have to be realistic with who we can beat and I believe we stand a good chance against Al Rayyan. Defeat will put us in a tricky situation while a win can give us a better chance of securing that second spot in the group.”
Al Rayyan came back from a goal down to overcome a plucky Istiklol 3-2 in their opener but the Qatar Stars League outfit were outplayed on Matchday Two, going down 3-0 to Al Hilal.
Despite the defeat, Al Rayyan head coach Nicolas Cordova is equally confident that his side can overcome Sharjah after having done their homework on their opponents.
“It will be a very good match for both teams tomorrow,” said Cordova. “We have prepared the team well for the game against Sharjah and we are expecting to win. It is clear that Al Hilal will qualify as group winners but we still have a chance to claim second spot and we must be ready.
“I believe it’s going to be a 50-50 match and although the match tomorrow will not decide the second place team, we must try our best. Al Rayyan can still advance and we need to put in some good performances starting with Sharjah.”