AFC Champions League:
Sepahan looking to build on home turf return in Al Hilal test
Sports Desk
Sepahan supporters will get to see their team in Isfahan’s Naqsh-e Jahan Stadium for the first time in the AFC Champions League this season as the Persian Gulf Pro League club will be back in action after six weeks on Thursday.
Awaiting the Iranian side in the last-16 round of the Asian elite clubs’ event is the Saudi powerhouse Al Hilal – the most decorated side in the competition with four trophies, which settled for a runner-up spot behind Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan last season.
Sepahan had a first home game in the group phase against Al Ittihad called off by the Asian Football Confederation and was handed a 3-0 loss for what the continent’s governing body of the sport described as the club’s failure to “comply with and implement existing safety rules [of the competition].”
The Isfahan-based club was then forced to play its next two home fixtures against AGMK and Air Force Club in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium.
Sepahan manager Jose Morais will hope to have his five Iranian players in top form after they spent four weeks on international duty at the Asian Cup in Qatar, where Iran suffered a last-four setback against the host last Wednesday.
International fullback Ramin Rezaeian, who started five of Iran’s six outings in Qatar, will be the player to watch in the Sepahan shirt as he bagged four goals and an assist to help Sepahan progress as one of the three best runners-up across the five West Zone groups.
Shahriar Moghanlou and Reza Asadi, the top two leading marksmen in the Iranian top flight with nine and eight goals respectively, are also expected to lead the line for Sepahan despite making cameo contributions to Iran’s Asian Cup campaign.
Sepahan will be without young midfield prodigy Mohammad-Javad Hosseinnejad and center-back Hadi Mohammadi for Thursday’s encounter following red cards against Air Force Club in the penultimate round of group fixtures.
Having won Group D with five victories in six matches – including a double against Iranian minnow side Nassaji Mazandaran – Al Hilal will head into Thursday’s game fresh from a 2-0 victory over domestic archrival Al Nassr in the Riyadh Season Cup last Thursday.
Nine Al Hilal players, including AFC Player of the Year Salem Al Dawsari, were involved in the Asian Cup but returned to club training following the Green Falcons’ last-16 defeat against South Korea a fortnight ago.
Serbian striker Aleksandar Mitrovic – one of Al Hilal’s marquee signings during a summer of spending spree – has been in dazzling form this season, scoring 17 goals in as many Saudi Pro League appearances, plus five strikes in the continental tournament.
The second leg of the tie will be staged in Riyadh’s Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium in eight days.