Al Ain: Al Ahli coach Cosmin Olaroiu once again showed his shrewd tactics on Wednesday as his side stormed into the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League on away goals at the expense of arch-rivals Al Ain.

Olaroiu cleverly used his resources after trailing from just the fourth minute. His masterstroke came soon after the change of ends, as he released the joker in his pack, Luis Jimenez.

Within minutes, Al Ain were cut to size and their dreams shattered as Al Ahli pumped in three goals in less than eight minutes.

Olaroiu, however, attributed his and the team’s success to the time he spent as coach of Al Ain from 2011 to 2013.

“I know many, many things about Al Ain and the game that we play was difficult for them to win against. But they have fantastic players, very good management, a good coach and for sure this is a point to start, not the end. They will be building a new team, much stronger, and I hope things will be good for them,” the Romanian said.

“Maybe, when you consider the first leg and tonight’s match, the best team qualified. For me, the victory does not have the same taste, because I win against Al Ain. I spent two years here, fantastic years, I played against my brothers, my children — it’s difficult. But, unfortunately, I have to play against them, when I prefer to play against anyone else.”

Al Ahli skipper Ahmad Khalil, who was instrumental in scoring a brace, was elated with the team’s efforts. “Thankfully we played a very strong match, my teammates and the technical staff have done very well. The next task we have is to think about the [President’s] Cup [semi-final on Saturday],” he said.

“The coaches will decide how we move forward, to give the best we can. We don’t want to stop here, we have to think about going further. We can do better than this — I hope we can reach the final.”

Al Ain coach Zlatko Dalic refused to blame his players for not getting across the line.

“It was a blackout in five minutes and after that it was mission impossible because we were trailing 3-1. We tried but we couldn’t,” said a dejected-looking Dalic. “I cannot say anything against my players. It happened and it was a very bad time.

“We didn’t lose a Champions League match this season, but we lost the tie.”