Abu Dhabi: Even a President’s Cup triumph may not be enough to spare Henk ten Cate, the Al Jazira coach, from the sack after another ignominious night for the Pride of Abu Dhabi in the AFC Champions League on Tuesday.

Already eliminated from the continental competition and bottom of Group C with a solitary point from their five previous games, a supine Jazira were brushed aside 3-0 by Pakhtakor in Tashkent.

The fact that the Uzbekistan side played 50 minutes with 10 men after Saeed Hizam’s dismissal and that Al Jazira are the second-worst performers of the 32-strong group stage — Thailand’s Buriram United ended pointless in Group F — will be uncomfortable statistics for Ten Cate.

As such, a home President’s Cup quarter-final with Sharjah a week on Thursday has assumed must-win importance for the 61-year-old Dutchman if he is to have any hope of remaining in charge next season.

He signed a short-term contract until the end of this campaign in late December, with an option for renewal in the summer, having replaced Abel Braga after the Brazilian oversaw just three wins in 16 games after succeeding the sacked Eric Gerets last summer.

But even if Ten Cate inspires success in the President’s Cup — winning the tournament would earn qualification for next season’s ACL — it is doubtful that the former Chelsea and Barcelona assistant coach would keep his job.

True, Ten Cate inherited a side bereft of the firepower of the last season’s leading AGL goalscorer, Mirko Vucinic, who suffered a season-ending cruciate ligament injury in November.

But a current eighth place in the AGL — they were runners-up in 2014-15 — and such an abject ACL campaign have forced Al Jazira to look elsewhere.

Last weekend, the club denied speculation that they had approached Al Hilal’s Greek boss, Giorgos Donis.

And last month, the fallen Abu Dhabi giants are reported to have sounded out former Tottenham coach, Christian Gross, who ended Al Ahli Jeddah’s 32-year wait to secure the Saudi Professional League title this season.

Meanwhile, Al Jazira’s opponents on Tuesday, Pakhtakor, also failed to progress to the ACL knockout phase despite their emphatic win courtesy of goals from Sukhrob Berdiev, Timur Talipov and Jalaloddin Masharipov.

That was because Al Hilal beat the group leaders, Tractor Sazi, 2-1 away to pip the Uzbeks by just one point.