Alkass Digital
Al Gharafa head coach Andrea Stramaccioni has said his team must stay focused for the entire match as they meet Shabab Al Ahli Dubai in a reverse Group C fixture of the AFC Champions League at Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium in Jeddah, today.
Very little separates the teams in Group C with Shabab Al Ahli, Al Gharafa and Foolad Khouzestan FC all unbeaten after three matches.
Ahead of today’s match, Stramaccioni admitted that his team need to polish their finishing after scoring only three goals in three matches.
“We have been working on our final touch by watching videos and discussing in our meetings. Concentration is important in front of goal and we hope to score in the next game.”
Out of nine goals scored in Group C, five have come after 80 minutes of play and Stramaccioni has urged his players to maintain maximum focus.
“We know that we will face a very skillful team with a lot of quality in front. You can see from the previous match how they put our defence under pressure in the first 25 minutes. Our defence did well but we were also a little bit lucky.”
“Tomorrow we need to play a clever match. We know our abilities and what we can do. My team must learn from what happened in the last game. We must concentrate not for 90 minutes but for 100 minutes. That’s how we need to be ready,” said Stramaccioni.
Both the teams played out a 1-1 draw last week. Al Gharafa lead Group C on goal difference.