Rayyan rally to beat Al Ain; Al Sadd lose on home soil

Al Ain’s defence of their continental crown came to an end on Monday as a 2-1 loss to Qatar’s Al Rayyan at the Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain saw the side from the United Arab Emirates crashing out of the AFC Champions League Elite 2024/25.
Needing to win to keep any realistic hope of advancing alive, Leonardo Jardim’s side went ahead through Alejandro Romero in the 42nd minute but second half goals from Mahmoud Trezeguet and Roger Guedes dished out defeat to the two-time Asian champions.
The result leaves Al Ain on two points from seven games while Al Rayyan move onto eight and the Qatar Stars League side will go into their final league phase meeting with Esteghlal on February 18 in contention for a place in the last 16. Al Ain’s fate, meanwhile, was sealed after Islamic Republic of Iran’s Esteghlal played to a 1-1 against Iraq’s Al Shorta in Tehran.
The home side, who have struggled throughout the defence of their Asian title, needed a first win of the campaign to retain hope of qualifying for the last 16 and the pressure showed in the early exchanges.
Al Rayyan’s Thiago Mendes wasted an opportunity when Khaled Eisa’s poor clearance landed at the feet of Guedes and, after the former Shandong Taishan forward fed his fellow Brazilian, the Al Ain goalkeeper redeemed himself with a solid stop.
Mohammed Awad Alla dragged his attempt across the face of the Al Rayyan goal at the end of a quick break soon after as Al Ain eventually settled while in the 24th minute Soufiane Rahimi had the ball in the net with a volley, but the effort was ruled out for offside.
The action swung from one end to the other, with Guedes denied on the goal-line by Khaled al-Hashemi’s clearance before Al Ain’s Matias Palacios shot from distance, only to see his goal-bound attempt shovelled away by Paulo Victor when he dropped to his right.
With a little over three minutes remaining in the half, Al Ain made the breakthrough. Rahimi was released down the left, the Moroccan edging towards the Al Rayyan goal before laying off for Romero to stroke his perfectly placed left-foot strike into the top corner.
Eisa had to be at his sharpest after the restart to keep out David Garcia’s attempt but there was little he could do in the 50th minute when Trezeguet converted Murad Haji Hussein’s cross from the right, the Egyptian controlling with his left before finishing with his right.
Palacios was inches away from restoring Al Ain’s lead in the 69th minute, rattling Victor’s crossbar from distance with the goalkeeper well beaten and the home side were to rue that miss six minutes later. A quickly taken throw by Adam Bareiro into the penalty caught out the defence and, after allowing the ball to run across his body, Guedes smashed a low, left-foot shot into the bottom corner.
Victor gratefully clutched Rahimi’s 82nd minute header to his chest after the forward glanced Bandar al-Ahbabi’s free kick towards goal as Al Ain sought a lifeline in the dying minutes, but it was to prove an impossible mission with Al Rayyan holding on.

Al Ahli 3 Al Sadd 1
Al Ahli’s excellent AFC Champions League Elite 2024/25 campaign continued after they came from behind to defeat Qatar’s Al Sadd 3-1 at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium on Monday.
Both sides had already secured their respective spots in the next stage prior to the game with the victory taking Al Ahli to 19 points which ensures them a top four finish in the League Stage and a home tie in the second leg of the Round of 16.
The home side got off to a dream start, with captain Akram Afif racing onto Youcef Atal’s stunning through pass inside the opening minute and spotting Edouard Mendy off his line, proceeding to lob over the former Chelsea keeper to give Al Sadd the lead.
Al Ahli, yet to be beaten in the League Stage, were not behind for long as their forward line combined to great effect in the 10th minute to draw them level.
Feras Albrikan won the ball off Boualem Khoukhi inside Al Sadd’s penalty box, his cross was headed back across goal by Riyad Mahrez for Roberto Firmino to produce a spectacular overhead kick that gave Meshaal Barsham no chance.
Even though the furious pace to the match dissipated as the first half went on, it didn’t stop Al Ahli from going ahead in the 39th minute as Roger Ibanez swept home from close range after Al Sadd failed to clear a Mahrez corner kick.
Early in the second half, Firmino had the opportunity to get his second after Mahrez set him up with a cutback, however, the Brazilian dragged his attempt wide from the edge of the box.
The Saudi Arabian side continued to create chances but were denied by an alert Guilherme Torres, who blocked Ziyad Aljohani’s effort in the 67th minute before Gabriel Veiga stabbed a shot high over the bar.
Al Ahli made sure of the points in the 81st minute when Ivan Toney managed to hook a pass to Mahrez despite being bundled over by Barsham, giving the Algerian the easiest of tasks of slotting home into an unguarded goal.
Al Ahli will look to cap a near-perfect League Stage campaign when they face Qatar’s Al Gharafa SC while Al Sadd will complete their fixtures with an away trip to Pakhtakor of Uzbekistan, both games to be played in a week’s time.