UAE clubs gear up for new season as Pro League kick-starts today

Mohammad Abdullah

A new-look but confident Shabab Al Ahli will begin the defence of their Pro League title against Ajman as they look to hold off an ambitious group of challengers to their crown as Emirati champions when the new season kicks off on Friday.

A total of four matches will be played on the opening day of the season. Sharjah will get the ball rolling against Ittihad Kalba in a 6pm kick-off while Al Bataeh will meet Al Wahda simultaneously at the Al Nahyan Stadium.

In the two late matches of the day, Shabab Al Ahli will take on Ajman while Al Ain will face Bani Yas at Rashid Bin Saeed Stadium and Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium respectively.

Shabab Al Ahli have bolstered their squad with some new-signings. They made some sweeping changes, roping in quite a few players along with the new manager Marko Nikolic, who was appointed in place of Leonardo Jardim.

Jardim left the club by mutual consent despite lifting the Pro League trophy to join Qatar’s Al Rayyan. In the previous year, Jardim guided Saudi’s Al Hilal to Asian Champions League glory before leaving them only after one year.

Nikolic has an expensively-assembled squad at his disposal to lead the charge for a successful title defence. Among the new arrivals are the strikers Mateusao of Brazil’s Flamengo, Munas Dabbur of Germany’s Hoffenheim and defenders Sultan Alzaabi of UAE’s Al Ittihad, Luka Milivojevic of English Premier League club Crystal Palace.

Sharjah, who are buoyant after wrapping up a treble, which includes ADIB Cup, Super Cup and the President’s Cup, will look to wrest back the Pro League title from Shabab Al Ahli.

Cosmin Olariou, the shrewd planner, won the Best Coach Award for charting out a map for a successful trophy-laden season. He steered Sharjah to triple glory after missing out in the race for the Pro League title.

Sharjah were on the top of the table until the half season. But their campaign was dented by the injuries to their top players. They slipped from the top of the table to finish in seventh place.

“I am happy that we won two trophies last year. All the boys played very well. We will try to improve our performance this season,” said Olariou.

They have also signed a few players to add tooth to their squad to launch a title charge with full throttle. They boast of an impressive line-up which features players like Juventus and Barcelona midfielder Miralem Pjanic, former Valencia, Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund striker Paco Alcacer and ex-Benfica winger Ciao Lucas.

Sharjah are of the three clubs who have retained their managers after the last season. Olaroiu leads Sharjah, Abdulaziz Al Anberi continues with Khorfakkan, and Farhad Majidi is the head coach of Ittihad Kalba, while newly-promoted club Emirates renew confidence in their manager Mohammad Al Jalbout.

Eight clubs, including Al Ain, Al Wahda, Al Jazira, Bani Yas, Al Wasl, Shabab Al Ahli, Hatta, and Al Bataeh have appointed new managers.

Emirates have also bolstered their squad by signing Spain legend Andres Iniesta. The Spaniard is likely to have a major impact in Emirates’ charge in the top flight. Emirates were promoted to the top flight this year. Iniesta has an impressive record of winning trophies with Barcelona. It will be interesting to see he can help Emirates to climb up the ladder and make them a force to reckon with in the Pro League.

Al Jazira have always been one of the top title contenders. Under the new coach, Al Jazira will have an uphill task to mount a serious challenge for the league title.

But they have a star-studded line-up with Golden Ball Award winner Ali Mabkhout leading the charge. Czech player Filip Novak, Spain’s Alejandro Pozuelo and Oumar Traore are among the foreign players to look out for.

Al Ain, who were the defending champions last year and finished second behind Shabab Al Ahli, will hope the new coach Alfred Schreuder will deliver trophies. Al Ain finished the season trophy-less after losing to Sharjah in the final of the President’s Cup.