Al Wahda aim to capitalise on home advantage in ACL tie against Al Zawraa

The exciting and biggest-ever editions of the AFC Champions League and AFC Cup get underway on Wednesday with aspiring clubs eyeing a coveted place in the Group Stage.    

Qatar’s Al Gharafa and Uzbekistan’s AGMK FC will kick-off the first play-off match as they aim to be part of Asia’s leading 40 clubs in the AFC Champions League Group Stage when they meet at the Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha.

The 2007 AFC Champions League semi-finalist Al Wahda of the UAE will also be in action on the same day when they host Iraq’s Al Zawraa Club at the Al Nahyan Stadium at 7.40pm.

“It will not be an easy game against a team that performs well with many strength points. We are preparing in a good way for this match and we will have to utilize the advantage of playing at home, and I have confidence in my team to win,” said Al Wahda coach Henk ten Cate.

Al Wahda had reached the group stage of the 2020 edition but were unable to travel to Qatar to compete in the centralised tournament after several team members tested positive for COVID-19, forcing the team to withdraw.

Al Zawraa, meanwhile, were eliminated from the second preliminary round last time out, falling 4-1 defeat to Uzbekistan’s Bunyodkor.

Cancellation of the 2019-2020 domestic seasons in both the UAE and Iraq meant the two sides qualified to the 2021 AFC Champions League playoff courtesy of their league position in the 2018-19 season where both Al Wahda and Al Zawraa had finished third.

The action continues when Saudi Arabia’s Al Wehda FC face three-time AFC Cup winners Air Force Club from Iraq at the King Abdulaziz Sports City in Makkah while Foolad Khouzestan FC from the Iran go up against Al Ain on April 10 at the Prince Faisal Bin Fahd Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, the AFC Cup will mark its eagerly anticipated return after more than a year when Nepal’s Tribhuvan Army FC take on Sri Lanka’s SL Police SC in the Preliminary Stage at the Dashrath Stadium in Kathmandu, Nepal on April 7 with the winners facing India’s JSW Bengaluru FC on April 14.

Club Eagles from Maldives will also be in action against Bhutan’s Thimphu City FC at the National Stadium in Male at 4pm where the winner meets Bangladesh’s Abahani Limited Dhaka. The first of the AFC Cup play-offs will be between Palestine’s Al Ama’ari Center and Kuwait SC which will take place at the Faisal Al-Husseini Stadium on April 20.

The AFC Champions League (West) Group Stage will start on April 14 while the AFC Cup Group Stage begins on May 14 with both competitions played in centralised venues.

In the East Region, the AFC has postponed the AFC Champions League Group Stage matches, which are now scheduled to take place from June 21 to July 11, taking into consideration the existing travel restrictions and quarantine challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.