Al Ahli v Al Taawoun: Crucial Asian Champions League tie will be a test of Romanian managers

Al Ahli manager Cosmin Olaroiu. Satish Kumar / The National file

■ Al Ahli v Al Taawoun, Asian Champions League: Monday, 8.30pm

DUBAI // Cosmin Olaroiu is wary of going up against fellow Romanian Constantin Galca in Monday’s Asian Champions League encounter against Al Taawoun, a match he views as crucial to Al Ahli’s continental campaign.

The UAE champions, currently third in Group A, take on the Saudi Arabians at Rashid Stadium looking to rebound from their 2-0 defeat to Uzbekistan’s Lokomotiv last time out in Matchday 2.

Debutants Taawoun have already proved their pedigree, opening with a 1-0 victory against Lokomotiv, although they were defeated 3-0 by Iran’s Esteghlal two weeks ago.

Olaroiu says he understands what awaits his team, especially given the obvious threat posed by Galca. The two managers represented rival Bucharest clubs during the early 1990s — Olaroiu at National Bucharest and Galca at Steaua — while both have previously managed Steaua.

“I know the coach well and how he prepares matches, so we don’t expect an easy game,” said Olaroiu, who has watched numerous videos of Taawoun. “His philosophy is all the time to try and play good football. They’re not a team who is used to staying back and only defending.

“Even in their last game against Esteghlal, they lost 3-0 but conceded those goals from set pieces, and they had better possession and better consistency. For me, he is one of the best coaches we have in Romania right now. That’s why I have to consider this.”

Nevertheless, Ahli will be favourites to secure a result to get their account back on track. Champions League runners-up two years ago, they have not lost at home in the competition in seven years, a sequence that currently stands at 12 matches. During that time, Ahli have recorded five victories, the most recent of which was last month’s 2-1 win in the Group A opener against Esteghlal.

The Dubai club will be without a number of players, though, with midfielder Majed Hassan among the most high-profile absentees and Ahmed Khalil, the 2015 Asian player of the year, a serious doubt.

Hassan’s knee injury requires surgery and is expected to rule him out for the remainder of the season, something that clearly irked Olaroiu.

“Majed Hassan is a very important player and a key mechanism of the team,” Olaroiu said. “In my opinion, he is one of our most important players. He has an injury and why and who decides to have this operation, I cannot say. I had a different opinion, but I am just an employee here — I do not make decisions.”

Irrespective of Hassan’s absence, Olaroiu is keen for Ahli to start better than they did against Lokomotiv earlier this month. Back then, they conceded in Tashkent after 19 seconds and, despite dominating for large spells thereafter, never could draw level. Ahli eventually lost 2-0.

Asked if he will underline the importance of being focused right from kick-off against Taawoun, Olaroiu said: “That can happen to all teams because every team is of equal ability. We will try to approach the match with more caution since this could be a very important game for our future in the Champions League.”

Olaroiu’s opposite number, Galca, said his side have high ambitions for the competition, too. At present, Taawoun are bottom of the standings on goal difference but, with all teams level on points, they know a good result against Ahli could propel them towards the knockout stages. However, Galca realises his team have a difficult assignment up next.

“The Asian Champions League is a very tough competition — all the teams look forward to it,” he said. “And in this group all the teams have one thing in common: aspirations to go through to the next stage.”

On facing Olaroiu, he said: “Cosmin and I haven’t played against each other in official match or a friendly, so this is the first time. He is a very good Romanian coach, who has achieved a lot of good results, especially in the Gulf region.”

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