Asian Giants Esteghlal, Al-Hilal in Classic Match: ACL Round of 16
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – One of many new faces could determine the outcome when Esteghlal will play Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal in a 2021 AFC Champions League Round of 16 classic clash on Monday.
With Riyadh-based Al-Hilal desperate to erase the memory of the last edition’s COVID-19 enforced group stage exit, and Esteghlal hoping to emulate its 2013 AFC Champions League semi-final appearance, both clubs have arrived in Dubai with noticeably different personnel than during April’s group stage.
A heavily revamped Esteghlal squad will take on Al-Hilal, with the side’s top scorer in the group stage Cheick Diabate and talented young playmaker Mehdi Ghaedi having left for pastures new, while several new signings have been introduced as the team prepare for the new Iran league season as well as a push for the club’s first continental title in three decades.
In total, 12 players who were part of Farhad Majidi’s group stage squad have departed, while there are 10 newcomers, meaning there is a possibility of a near-unrecognizable Esteghlal side taking to the pitch in Monday’s clash.
Having scored eight goals in its first two games and conceding just two, the Tehran-based side then labored through Group C, winning just one of its remaining matches before ultimately claiming first place in what was considered one of the competition’s toughest groups.
Like Esteghlal, it will be a new-look Al-Hilal on show at Dubai’s Zabeel Stadium, with big-name changes made to the side that squeezed into the last 16 as one of the best three runner-up in the West Zone, the-afc.com reported.
The likes of Luciano Vietto and Andre Carillo are not part of the squad that has travelled to Dubai, while marquee arrivals like former FC Porto forward Moussa Marega and Brazilian Matheus Pereira – fresh from 11 Premier League goals last season – have been added.
AFC Champions League winner as recently as 2019, but having forced out of the group stage by the COVID-19 pandemic last season, Al-Hilal endured a rocky Group A campaign that included a shock 4-1 defeat to Tajik newcomers Istiklol before its place in the last 16 was finally secured on Matchday Six.
Those struggles signaled the end of former boss Rogerio Micale’s tenure, with ex-AS Monaco head coach Leonardo Jardim taking the helm in June.
