Al Hilal and Al Sadd to renew rivalry in ACL next week

Kuala Lumpur: Qatar’s Al Sadd are set to face Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal in the AFC Champions League semi-final next week, having overcome another Saudi opponent - Al Nassr – in the previous round and this will be the latest in a long series of Saudi-Qatari clashes in the competition’s knockout stages.

Although clubs from Saudi Arabia and Qatar have appeared in every single edition of the AFC Champions League since its inception in 2002-03, they managed to avoid facing-off in the knockout stages until 2009, but in the decade since, they have been pitted together on 10 occasions.

With the round of 16 being introduced for the first time in 2009, the draw brought Al Hilal against debutants Umm Salal. A one-legged encounter at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh ended goalless.

The Qataris got off to a bad start when captain Aziz Ben Askar blasted the first spot-kick high, but goalkeeper Baba Malick came to the rescue, saving twice from Libyan midfielder Tarek El Taib and Mohammed Al Shalhoub, while Umm Salal scored their remaining attempts to reach the semi-finals at the first time of asking.

A year later, Al Hilal found themselves facing Qatari opponents once more - this time it was Al Gharafa standing in their way at the quarter-finals. The Saudis cruised to a 3-0 victory in Riyadh with Al Shalhoub opening the scoring to make amends for his missed penalty the previous year.

One of the greatest Saudi-Qatari matches took place in Doha a week later, with Al Gharafa delivering a miraculous comeback in the span of 42 minutes.

Regular time ended 3-0 for Al Gharafa and the two sides had to be separated by extra time.

Iraqi legend Younis Mahmoud netted for Al Gharafa in the 102nd minute, but as the game looked headed for a Qatari victory, the home crowd were stunned by a two-minute double from Yasser Al Qahtani and Eisa Al Mehyani. At the final whistle, it was Al Hilal who celebrated reaching the semi-final.

The first time Al Sadd faced Saudi opponents in the AFC Champions League was the year they won the title. In the 2011 Round of 16, they played Al Shabab in a single leg at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium.

A first-half header from defender Abdullah Kony settled the tie, sending Al Sadd into the next round and eventually all the way to title glory.