Debutant Shahr Khodro to Meet ACL Holder Al Hilal
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian football team Shahr Khodro will play 2019 AFC Champions League champion Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia in Group B on Monday.
The match will be held at Al Wasl Stadium in Dubai, the UAE.
The Saudis lifted the coveted trophy in Saitama back in November, becoming the first West Asian side to be crowned champions since Al Sadd in 2011.
Going into the 2020 AFC Champions League, Al Hilal opted for stability, retaining the core of the squad that delivered glory last year under coach Razvan Lucescu with 2019 top scorer Bafetimbi Gomis leading the line once more alongside Sebastian Giovinco.
Domestically, Al Hilal romped to a fiery start to their season, losing just one of their first 17 matches and sitting top of the table, three points ahead of their nearest chasers, Al Nassr. Gomis has also been in top form, leading the Saudi Pro League scoring charts with 14 goals.
Shahr Khodro, meanwhile, finished fourth in the 2018-19 Iran Pro League, earning a place in the 2020 AFC Champions League Preliminary Round 2 as a result of second-placed Persepolis winning the 2019 Hazfi Cup.
Striker Mohammed Reza Khalatabari, an AFC Champions League veteran who had scored for Zob Ahan and Sepahan previously, joined Shahr Khodro ahead of the competition, and scored the opener in their 2-1 win over Bahrain’s Riffa SC in Preliminary Round 2, setting up a clash against Qatar’s Al Sailiyah SC in the Play-offs.
The tie went to penalty shootouts after a goalless 120 minutes, and it was thanks to Karim Ansarifard’s missed spot-kick that Shahr Khodro advanced to the group stage for the first time in their history.
