Football giants Persepolis and Esteghlal will play the second leg of quarterfinal matches in the AFC Champions League against Qatari rivals while the Reds hope to avenge Al-Duhail at home at Azadi Stadium and the Blues, shocked by the 3-1 loss to Al Sadd in Tehran, need a miracle to advance.
Persepolis suffered a 1-0 loss to Qatari side on August 28 in Doha, but its hope of reaching the semis is stronger than Esteghlal which will play the away match in Doha.
According to the match statistics, despite losing, Persepolis almost kept up with Al-Duhail in the game statistics: each side made 19 fouls and Persepolis with 10 shots to the Qataris’ box was ahead compared to nine from Al-Duhail. But corner kicks superiority was with the host 4 to 3 as well as ball possession with 58% to 42%.
Considering the statistics, Branko Ivancovic’s side has a strong hope to bring down the Qatari side to advance to the semis for the second consecutive year.
Ivankovic believes the 1-0 loss would be compensated in Tehran and has promised an offensive tactic rather than a defensive strategy.
In last year’s edition of the continental tournament, Persepolis suffered a 6-2 aggregate loss to Saudi’s Al-Hilal in the semis.
During the Esteghlal-Al Sadd game in Tehran, the Qatari visitors scored all the four goals, the first one into their own net and the rest into Esteghlal’s box.
Al Sadd dominated the game with 6 corner kicks, twice that of Esteghlal’s and 52% ball possession. The Qataris set the Blues goal on fire with 19 shots, six of which were on target, while Esteghlal made a total of seven shots with two inside the framework.
The job is obviously tough for the Tehran-based club when it plays away on September 17. If the Blues want to reach the semifinals, they should win the match scoring two goals more than their rivals to compensate the goals conceded in Tehran.
The key factor for a better result by the Reds seemingly is using players who were with the team in the last edition of the games as they will have the benefit of experience.
Esteghlal has added a number of new players, during the summer transfer window, after the end of the AFC Champions League group games where they topped Group D.
However, now it seems that the new players have not yet adapted both to the team and atmosphere of the tournament.
Persepolis will host the second leg game at Azadi Stadium on September 17 while Esteghlal flies to Doha to play at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium on the same day.
