Al-Hilal, the defending champion, is looking forward to his fifth victory today when he faces Al-Rayyan of Qatar at Riyadh’s Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium at the end of the first group competition.
The two teams come into the match with different ambitions, with Al-Hilal securing qualification before two rounds and the group leading at the end of the last round, while Al-Rayyan needs to win to get into the top three second-placed teams.
Al-Hilal leads with 13 points with 4 wins and one draw, while Al Rayyan is in second with 10 points with 3 wins, a draw and a loss. Al-Hilal has historically outperformed his Qatari counterpart as they have met 10 times in various tournaments. Al-Hilal won 6 matches, Al-Rayyan in one and the draw ended in 3 matches. – Rahiba scored 11 goals. . Although Al Hilal qualified and became the leader of the group, he is aiming for victory in order to maintain his unbeaten record. Al-Hilal’s Argentinian manager Ramon Diaz is expected to make several changes to the roster to allow for some players who have largely been out of most of the past matches.
As for Al-Rayan, who scored an important victory over Istiklal of Tajikistan in deadly time, he will enter the match in full force looking for a victory to accompany Al-Hilal to the second round, or a draw in the hope that the results of the rest of the group will serve him.
Al Faisali has to clear the hurdle of Qatari Al Sadd to book a ticket to the first round of the AFC Champions League in his first appearance.
Al-Faisali leads the group with 9 points and continued his career as the best start for the Saudi Arabia national team in the tournament with his first participation, as he maintained his unbeaten record with two wins and 3 draws, while Al-Sadd ranks last with 4 points.
The second Uzbek “Nasaf” (8 points) will meet with the third Jordanian detachment (5 points).
