The Iranian football giant beat Qatar’s Lekhwiya 3-0 in Group A of the AFC Champions League.
“I dedicate this victory to those who were patient and supported us. We played a strong team who had come here to play football,” Derakhshan said in the post match news conference.
“We played today as we expected. We had already analyzed Lekhwiya and my players did their best in the match. I am proud of them,” he added.
“In the Iranian Professional League, our opponents are very tight defensively but in the AFC Champions League, we can play better since we play the more quality teams,” Derakhshan said.