Dubai: Al Nasr need to win or draw their final Asian Champions League group game away to Lokomotiv Tashkent in Uzbekistan from 7pm (UAE time) on Wednesday to avoid having to rely on other results.
If second in Group A Al Nasr lose away to leaders Lokomotiv, third-placed Al Ittihad could still overtake The Blue Wave with victory away to bottom-side Sepahan of Iran. However, at least a draw in Tashkent will see Al Nasr trump Al Ittihad on a better head-to-head record, ensuring qualification to the last 16 for the first time in their history.
Either way, the Oud Mehta outfit’s Chilean-Palestinian playmaker Luis Jimenez said his side won’t be leaving anything to chance.
“We are fully aware that if Al Ittihad stumble away to Sepahan then we will qualify regardless,” said the former Fiorentina, Lazio, Inter and West Ham player. “But we are only focused on our performance and getting the right result to qualify without thinking of others.”
Whoever finishes first in Group A will play either Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia or Pakhtakor of Uzbekistan in the second round, while the runners-up will play Iran’s Tractor Sazi.
But Jimenez said his side had no preference on future opponents, or finishing first over second in the group, so long as they just confirm progression.
“Both first and second go up and whoever we face next will be a good team, no one reaches this round without deserving to be there. We are looking to qualify first before thinking about our second round opponents.
“Reaching the second round would mean a lot for us in terms of raising morale at the end of the season and will give us motivation going forward.”
Al Nasr could have confirmed progression with victory in their penultimate Asian Champions League group game at home to Lokomotiv last month, but they instead drew 1-1. Burkinabe winger Jonathan Pitroipa insisted his teammates were over that missed opportunity however, and denied his side would be overwhelmed despite leaving everything still to play for in Tashkent.
“Everyone’s seen how strong Lokomotiv are, they haven’t lost a group game so far, we tried to achieve victory in the last match to confirm qualification as soon as possible, but on the whole a draw was a fair result.
“I think we can match Lokomotiv despite being away, and we will try to come up with the best possible result. Our goal is always to make the second round, but that requires focus.
“We must be at the top of our game, despite having played a lot of games recently and suffering injuries and fatigue, we are confident that the team can deliver a result to please our fans.”
