Alkass Digital
Al-Wakrah opened their AFC Champions League Two (ACL2) campaign with a 3-0 home defeat to Iran’s Tractor on Wednesday, marking a challenging start for Qatari clubs in this year’s tournament. The AFC Champions League Elite (ACLE) and Two (ACL2) competitions, which kicked off this week, have raised high expectations across Asia, particularly with the tournament’s new format, mirroring the UEFA Champions League structure. The new format aims to increase the competitiveness of the matches, but the first round has proved difficult for Qatar’s representatives, all of whom suffered losses. Al-Wakrah’s loss came as a surprise to many, with the Qatari side struggling to break through Tractor’s net. The Qatari team dominated with 61% of ball possession, but it was not enough avoid the dominant 3-0 defeat against the Iranian team. On Monday, Al-Gharafa also experienced a tough start, falling 3-0 to Esteghlal F.C. of Iran. A day later, Al-Rayyan faced Saudi giants Al-Hilal. The 3-1 defeat faced by Al-Rayyan is a result that many anticipated due to Al-Hilal’s famous lineup and status as one of the strongest in Asia. Speaking about the expectations for Qatari clubs this season, the freelance football journalist and analyst Neel Shelat emphasized the importance of this year’s campaign. "After no Qatari clubs reached the ACL KOs last year, they will be keen to change that with 3 teams in the ACLE this season," Shelat said. For Neel, Al-Wakrah’s defeat was the most unexpected of the week, but he remains optimistic about their chances. “I think they should be strong favourites against the other two teams in their ACL Two group and comfortably advance to the KOs as well.” Despite the challenging defeats this week, Neel sees no reason for alarm. "Al Rayyan shouldn't be too harsh on themselves after losing to arguably the best team in the continent in Al Hilal, and Al Gharafa's loss can be explained by the poor pitch conditions they faced in Iran." Yousef Abdel-Fattah, a Palestinian football enthusiast, expressed his keen interest in seeing how Qatari teams perform this season. "I was very interested to see how Al Sadd would fare against Al Ain and Al Rayyan coming back to the AFC Champions League against Al Hilall." Reflecting on the matches, Yousef added, "It wasn't the best result for both sides, even though, in my opinion, Al Sadd played decent against Al Ain away from home. But Al Rayyan were just dominated throughout the whole game against Al Hilal with their star studded team..." As the tournament progresses, Yousef remains hopeful for a turnaround. "I'm on the board for the Qatari clubs and I can't wait to see how the rest of the tournament goes ahead this this season." Looking ahead, all eyes will be on Qatar’s teams as they seek to recover in the upcoming rounds. Despite the tough start, optimism remains that the clubs will secure crucial points and continue their campaigns in this season's AFC competitions.