Al-Ittihaddirected by the Argentine Marcelo Gallardofell 2-0 against Al-Hilal in the first leg of the quarterfinals of the Asian Champions League. The result was not the best gift for Matías Biscay, Muñeco’s historic assistant, who turned 51 this Tuesday. To make matters worse, those in the yellow and black shirt were left with one less player midway through the second half. The direct red card that the Australian referee Alex King showed him to N’Golo Kanté – The Best Of N’Golo Kanté entered the history books: it is the first in the entire career of the 32-year-old French midfielder. Until now, his service record was intact, with a single stain: a double yellow when he played with the Caen shirt, in France’s Ligue 1.
Despite the defeat, Gallardo did not consider the tie closed by any means: “I reminded the players in the locker room that the story is not over yet. With this spirit, at home and in front of our people, we can turn it around and remove the qualification from Al-Hilal,” he said in the press conference after the 0-2. And he insisted: “The story is not over. I analyze the game in parts: we played the first half as equals. And in the technical aspects there were no differences, since we could have converted, even after the expulsion (of Kanté)“Gallardo stated. And Ahmed Hegazi, captain of Al-Ittihad, also spoke: “We played a good game, but it was not the best result for us. For a minute or two we lost focus”, he admitted, in relation to Al-Hilal’s flurry of goals. And he continued: “We were fine. But in the second half, with the expulsion, Al-Hilal had the advantage in the middle.”
Kanté’s expulsion
El Muñeco lived almost the entire game in his playpen. He did not stop giving instructions to his soccer players: ”¡Don’t stop!” (“Don’t stop,” in English), he told them at one point in the first part. And he also spoke several times with his assistants and the translator, a key piece in reaching the players. The problem of Al-Ittihad es the number of defensive errors that he commits by encounter. The team competed on equal terms with Al-Hilal, leader of the Saudi league and strong candidate to win the continent’s Champions League. He did it with less individual hierarchy -four substitutes less than their rival, without Karim Benzema, their top star, among those called up- and their weapons: a 4-4-2 with the Brazilian Romarinho and the Moroccan Abderrazak Hamdallah up front. His two key pieces were, as always, Kante and the Brazilian Fabinho. Both divided the team’s engine room. And the strategy worked.
Until a childish mistake Good Alolayan, the right back of the Muñeco team, threw the whole plan overboard. He marked the Serbian Aleksandar Mitrovic on a free kick and he couldn’t think of a better idea than to tackle him, as if it were rugby and not football. The attacker, hardened in battles such as the English Championship or the Premier League, exaggerated the fall and claimed the penalty. They gave it to him, despite the protests of those led by the Doll. Mitrovic himself changed it for a goal. That advantage crumbled Gallardo’s team.
Mitrovic’s penalty goal
Because in a gust, Al-Hilal went 2-0 up. A huge pass Ruben Neves he sent the Brazilian to run Malcom on the right wing. He managed to shoot the center and, on the other side, an old acquaintance of the Argentine team closed the play: Salem Al-Dawsarithe scorer of Saudi Arabia’s second goal in the debut of Qatar 2022. It was a knockout blow for Al-Ittihad, for whom the best thing that could happen was for that first half to end. Everything I had planned for the meeting had gone to waste in two minutes.
Al-Dawsari’s goal
Gallardo -and his translator- settled some points in the locker room. The team returned with a different posture for the second half. He had a couple of chances and other approaches to the goalkeeper’s domain. Mohammed Alowais, but couldn’t convert. He even moved a few meters forward on the field and took the initiative, with the firm intention of closing the gap on the scoreboard. In any case, the goal was denied. The difference was in the forcefulness of both teams: While Al-Hilal took advantage of the moves it had, Al-Ittihad let them pass.
The best of Al-Ittihad’s defeat against Al-Hilal
I miss Benzema, one of the superstars of the Saudi league who is called upon to score the team’s goals. But the Frenchman’s 2024 started with turbulence: an injury, an untimely exit from the preseason, conflicts with the board and, finally, his readmission to the team. A muscle injury took him out of the team for this Tuesday’s clash against Al-Hilal. And nothing ensures that he will be present at the momentous return meeting, in which Gallardo and his team play the season: far away in the local league (fifth, 25 points! from Al-Hilal and 16 points from the places that qualify for next year’s Champions League), The objective is to pass the key and access the semifinals of the continental tournament. Not a simple goal.
Themes
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