Al Ain, second in the UAE championship, received Al Nassr from the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium Cristiano Ronaldo, for the first leg of the AFC Champions quarter-finals. The locals beat the Saudi Arabian team 1-0.
With CR7 on the pitch, Al Nassr could do little during his visit to Al Ain. The team led by Hernán Crespo played better, was effective and ended up winning thanks to Soufiane Rahimi’s goal in the 44th minute of the match, after a beautiful assist from Kaku Romero.
Al Nassr came into this match as the key favorite due to the quality of their team, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Sadio Mané as references, but found themselves against a complicated Emirati team, determined to put an end to the hegemony that the clubs have obtained from Saudi Arabia.
He @kakuromero10 He dressed as an assistant in Al Ain’s 1-0 win against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr ????
It was the first leg of the quarter-finals: next week there will be the return leg.
Look at the pass he put???? pic.twitter.com/7fQ62E25FD
— Lea Sanchez (@LeaSanchez73) March 4, 2024
Crespo’s team played a high-flying game, with a stellar evening from Paraguayan Alejandro Kaku Romero. The 29-year-old striker, former Huracán, scored a goal disallowed for offside and provided a categorical assist on the home team’s goal.
Al Ain is in full recovery, after a bad start in the UAE Pro League and the latest results confirm it. Currently, the Emirati institution has eight consecutive wins and one draw in the last nine matches and is also undefeated in 2024. In the previous stage of this Champions League, it beat Nasaf 2-1 in the series and now has a slight lead ahead of the return match against Al Nassr.
Al Nassr, for their part, had a good record before this match, with four wins in their last five matches, and after losing today they will have to raise their heads by hosting next week. In this tournament, they had eliminated Navbahor 2-1 in the round of 16. For the rematch of these quarter-finals, CR7’s team will not be able to count on a defense heavyweight, the Spanish central defender Aymeric Laporte, as he has been sent off.
The last precedent between the two teams dates back to 2020, again in the Asian Champions League, but in the group stage. In Saudi Arabia Al Ain won 1-0, while in the United Arab Emirates Al Nassr won 2-1.
Source: Clarin
Jason Root is the go-to source for sports coverage at News Rebeat. With a passion for athletics and an in-depth knowledge of the latest sports trends, Jason provides comprehensive and engaging analysis of the world of sports.