Al Ain out to end ACL group stage on top, ‘because Al Ain should always be there’

Despite having wrapped up progression to the Asian Champions League knockout stages as well as the Arabian Gulf League title, Al Ain claim to remain focused. John McAuley reports.

Al Ain defender Mohanad Salem, right, celebrates during an Arabian Gulf League match with teammate Fares Juma in December. Satish Kumar / The National / December 10, 2014

Zlatko Dalic has called on his Al Ain players to ensure they qualify as group winners for the knockout stages of the Asian Champions League.

The Garden City club, top of Group B heading in the pool’s final fixture, require a solitary point from Wednesday night’s home tie with Naft Tehran, the Iranian side who currently sit one place and one point behind them. Naft are joint-top of their domestic league.

Al Ain guaranteed progression to the last 16 two weeks ago, when they defeated Saudi Arabia's Al Shabab 1-0 in Riyadh. The result came only days after they sealed the Arabian Gulf League crown with three rounds to spare.

Their title coronation is planned for Saturday’s final domestic league engagement against Sharjah, although Dalic said the freshly minted UAE champions would not be distracted by the weekend’s celebrations.

“Our target is to win the match to remain on top of the group,” he said. “We’re not thinking about the league ceremony for now. We take each match step-by-step. Naft have won matches away from home, so I know when they play outside Iran they are a very strong team.”

Al Ain, semi-finalists last year, will be without Miroslav Stoch at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium as the Slovakian serves the third of a four-match ban in the Champions League. However, the hosts welcome back Jires Kembo Ekoko, who also missed the Shabab encounter through suspension.

Should Al Ain avoid defeat and thus clinch top spot, then they set up a meeting with the runners-up of Group D, a pool that includes local rivals Al Ahli. Dalic would not be drawn on any potential match-up, although he did reiterate the club’s ambitions to better last season’s run to the last four.

“First, we need to stay on top of the group and then we will find out who we play in the next stage. Tomorrow we have a match and my only concern is to win it. Once we win, then we’ll think about the next match.

“Of course, our target is to reach even further than we did last year.”

Al Ain’s success this campaign has been built on a strong backline. They boast the joint-best defensive record in the competition, having conceded two goals in five matches. However, they have not managed to register a victory at home in two matches, drawing twice.

“Our target is to have a strong match and to get our first win at home,” said Mohanad Salem, the Al Ain defender. “We’ll show a good performance. Every match I play I have a target to keep a clean sheet; it’s the defender’s job to stop the opponent from scoring.

“Hopefully this will be our first home win in the group stages and we’ll then be at the top, because Al Ain should always be there.”

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