In the match, held in Doha’s Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan and Persepolis shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw.
Al Rayyan produced 17 attempts on goal but only seven of those were on target with Achraf Bencharki’s header in the 57th minute cancelling out Farshad Faraji’s first half opener.
“Our team played a great match but luck was not on our side,” said Ali. "We created many chances and deserved to win.
“It is true that we did not start the match the right way, but we dominated the second half and created several chances but we lacked the final touch,” he added.