Al Gharafa in strong test against Ronaldo’s Al Nassr

Al Gharafa will face one of their stiffest tests for a place in the knockout stage of the AFC Champions League Elite 2024-25 stage when they meet Ronaldo’s Al Nassr Club of Saudi Arabia at the Al Bayt Stadium today at 7pm.
Al Gharafa head into the tie being sixth in the West Zone standings with Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr third.
Al Gharafa have blown hot and cold on the continental stage, something which they can’t afford as the League Stage enters the second half but will be boosted by Friday’s 3-1 win against Al Wakrah in their Qatar Stars League 2024-25 match.
A haul of four points means they can be overtaken even by bottom-placed Al Ain FC, with the UAE side three adrift, but the records are not in Al Gharafa’s favour with the Qatari side winless in each of their last 10 matches against Saudi Arabian opposition in the competition.
Al Gharafa coach Pedro Martins, however, said he expects his team to rise to the occasion and change the script.
“We need a win to stay on track for the knockout stage. I hope the players will perform up to their potential. We will play with our own style against Al Nassr, which is a strong side having a great striker in Cristiano Ronaldo, but we will apply individual marking on him. Our chances to advance are still there and we will continue to fight for it,” said Martins.
Al Gharafa’s Argentinian player Matias Nani, said, “We look forward to playing a good match and the while it’s a strong challenge, we aim to get the three points.”
Al Nassr coach Stefano Pioli said his team would be wary of Al Gharafa players Yacine Brahimi and Joselu.
“Al Gharafa are strong opponents having good players. They are an organised team which tries to control the field. They have a good midfielder in (Yacine) Brahimi and good striker Joselu so we must be careful,” said Pioli.
He added, “We get little time to recover during our games but we are used to it. We have professional players who are used to these situations. We had a good training session and the team is ready for the match. We will try to do our best after we lost our last match due to mistakes.
“The most important thing is that our mental focus is present tomorrow. It is true that in the last match we made mistakes, but we have a final training session today to prepare for the match with Al Gharafa.”
About Ronaldo’s presence, Pioli said, “Today we have the last training session, and if he is ready, he will be present in tomorrow’s match.”
Al Nassr are unbeaten in their last seven matches against Qatari opposition on the continental stage, winning each of their last five.
They were in a rich vein of form prior to the international break but suffered a shock 2-1 defeat to Al Qadisiyah in the Saudi Pro League 2024-25 on Friday, with the result leaving them six points adrift of pacesetters Al Hilal SFC.

Al Rayyan vs Persepolis
Qatar’s Al Rayyan and Persepolis FC of Iran will be aiming to revive their respective campaigns when they square off in the AFC Champions League Elite 2024-25 at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium today at 9pm.
Both sides are in desperate need of a win with Al Rayyan having accumulated three points from four matches while Persepolis are one behind.
Al Rayyan ended a run of three consecutive defeats with their 1-0 win over Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor on Matchday Four and will be hoping to carry that form into their tie against Persepolis.
Al Rayyan were edged 1-2 by Al Shamal in the Ooredoo Stars League on Friday but would be looking to show their form on a bigger stage.
Al Rayyan coach Younes Ali said his side is focused on improving their chances of qualifying for the knockouts.
“We are looking to capitalise on our previous win against Pakhtakor and increase our chances of qualifying for the next stage.
“We have turned the page on the last Al Shamal match, in which I bear responsibility for the loss. I trust my players’ ability to do their best in the continental championship,” said Ali.
He added, “We aim to derive strength from our last win against Pakhtakor (of Uzbekistan) and do well to enhance our chances of qualifying for the next round having studied the opposition well.”
Persepolis’ assistant coach Seyed Jalal Hosseini said the contest is a difficult.
“Al Rayyan match will be difficult and strong, and we need to achieve victory and come out with the three points. So we will do our best to get the desired result,” he said.
“Our preparations have been good for tomorrow’s match and we look forward to winning and restoring our chances of qualifying for the round of 16. We will do our best to come out with a positive result,” he stressed.
Persepolis have also found the going tough on the continental stage, managing just two draws but will count on their record against Al Rayyan to get on the winning trail – having won two and drawn one of their last
three meetings with the Qatari side.Their domestic form has been good, advancing to the Round of 16 of the Hazfi Cup with a 3-0 defeat of Soongun on Thursday and sitting just a point behind leaders Sepahan in the Iran Pro League 2024-25.