Dubai: For the past five years both Al Ahli and Al Ain have shared the Arabian Gulf League (AGL) title, and it remains to be seen if that dominance will slip in the forthcoming season, which starts on Friday.
Defending AGL champions Al Ahli have already drawn first blood in the 2016/17 UAE football season by beating last season’s President’s Cup winners Al Jazira 2-1 in the Super Cup in Cairo on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, 2015/16 league and cup runners-up Al Ain are looking to mask the disappointment of finishing last season empty handed with an extended run in the Asian Champions League (ACL) where they are currently through to the semi-finals.
The truth is however, Al Ain haven’t bolstered their squad as well as Al Ahli have over the summer, and their holding out for the ACL title in order to salvage something from 2016 could just leave them playing catch-up again at the start of this season.
Al Ahli have also stirred their rivalry with Al Ain by signing their former talisman Asamoah Gyan on loan from China’s Shanghai SIPG.
The Ghanaian striker won three consecutive league top scorers awards at The Boss from 2012 to 2014 before moving to Shanghai for a reported €20 million (Dh81.3 million) UAE record sale last summer.
Injuries left him a shadow of his former self in China however, hence his rapid return to the UAE with his old club’s rivals this summer, but it remains to be seen if he is a spent force or still has something to offer.
It may be a risk worth taking from Al Ahli as it not only riles their main opponents but the Red Knights also have more than enough strength in depth to make up for any possible Gyan shortfall.
He’s likely to deal better with a transition back to this level however, where he is a proven goal scorer. And even if he doesn’t Al Ahli have Brazilian striker Rodrigo Lima back from long term injury, who scored an impressive 19 goals in 24 appearances across all competitions upon signing from Benfica last summer before undergoing knee surgery in January.
As well as that Al Ahli have the retained likes of Brazil’s Everton Ribeiro and South Korea’s Kwon Kyung-won in midfield to support the cause.
Considering Al Ain’s shortfall last season, they haven’t strengthened anywhere near necessary, retaining Brazilian striker Dyanfres Douglas, Colombian midfielder Danilo Asprilla and South Korean midfielder Lee Myung-joo.
Their only addition has been the young and relatively unproven Brazilian midfielder Caio Lucas from Kashima Antlers.
Therefore, while Al Ahli’s grip over the title can be seen as unflinching, Al Ain’s contention for the title or even a top two finish is in question. And there will be teams biting at their heels.
Al Wahda will be looking to push on after finishing third in the league and winning the Arabian Gulf Cup (AGC) last season, but qualifying for the ACL play-offs this season with a strong chance of going forward in Asia may serve as a distraction.
Al Jazira are in the same situation, they salvaged an otherwise woeful domestic season by beating Al Ain on penalties in last season’s President’s Cup final and now look to push ahead domestically, despite qualifying automatically for the ACL along with last season’s AGL champions Al Ahli and runners-up Al Ain.
Elsewhere, Al Nasr were knocked out of the ACL quarter-finals this week by virtue of a reversed score line. The Blue Wave beat Qatar’s El Jaish 3-0 away in last month’s first leg but had that result reversed to a 3-0 defeat by the Asian Football Confederation on Monday for allegedly fielding a player on a “forged or falsified” passport.
Each team is allowed three foreigners plus one Asian player and Al Nasr’s Brazilian-born striker Wanderley Santos, who scored two in the first leg, was occupying the Asian slot by playing on a suspect Indonesian passport.
El Jaish won the second leg 1-0 to record a 4-0 win on aggregate. And Al Nasr, who have made great inroads in recent years to end a 25-year wait for silverware by winning the 2014 GCC Club Championship and 2015 domestic cup double, will now be looking to get over their recent disappointment with an improved showing in the league.
