Al-Nasr team achieved an important victory over Al-Rayyan Qatar, by two goals to one, in the second round of AFC Champions League for the eliteThe match was held at Al Awal Park Stadium, the home of the international team.
Al-Nasr achieved its first victory in the modern Asian Championship after tying with Al-Shorta of Iraq with a goal for each team in the first round, while Al-Rayyan suffered its second loss, after falling in the first round at home to Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia with a score of 3-1.
This was the first confrontation between Al-Nasr and Al-Rayyan in the AFC Champions League, as they had met five times before that in the Arab and Gulf club tournaments. Al-Nasr won twice, Al-Rayyan won once, and they tied twice.
Al-Nasr did not lose in its last 7 matches against the Qatari teams (won 5, drawn 2), including 5 consecutive victories. In contrast, Al-Rayyan won only twice in 15 matches against the Saudi team in the AFC Champions League, all of them in the group stage (drew 2, lost). 11).
Pioli’s touch is clearly visible with victory
The problem in Al-Nasr with Luis Castro was related to tactical discipline without the ball, but today, in the vast majority of the match, there was tactical discipline related to starting the process of pressing and defending from Cristiano Ronaldo and making the team a single unit in pressing.
In the past, there was a lack of tactical commitment from some players. We used to see the ease with which the attacking quartet beat Al-Nassr with one or two passes, but this thing changed with the defensive commitment and the effort made in closing the passing angles or pressure from Ronaldo and Mane, to the point that this makes you wonder how long have you watched Ronaldo? He puts in such effort that he is so keen on every ball that he lost the ball “only twice” this match.
The other thing is Al-Nasr’s diversity in attack between direct play, which Pioli has preferred since his time with Milan, and playing on rotation and possession, such as the second goal, which came after 14 passes, and a wonderful work by Abdul Rahman Gharib, and a wonderful finish by Cristiano Ronaldo with his left foot.
Finally, Cristiano Ronaldo attempted 7 shots in this match, which is the highest total by a player in the elite AFC Champions League.
The depth of Al-Nassr’s lineup is a plus
Marcelo Brozovic was absent, but Otavio appeared and shined alongside Abdullah Al-Khibari in the midfield, and Abdulrahman Gharib, who entered and shined and created the second goal, was a substitute, with Angelo Gabriel, Sadio Mane and Talisca behind Cristiano Ronaldo.
The question will be, with Brozovic’s return, whether he will play alongside Otavio in the midfield, or with the presence of Abdullah Al-Khibari, knowing that Otavio is good at playing behind the striker, “Talisca Center,” or on the wing, “Sadio Mane Center.” In any case, Al-Nasr now has a strong squad. Strong bench and various options.
For its part, Al Rayyan committed 4 fatal mistakes that cost it its second loss in the tournament, awaiting course correction in the coming rounds.
The first mistake: changing the way Al Rayyan played
Al Rayyan played the last 3 matches in a 4-4-2 system and lost them all. In front of the terrifying Al-Nasr team, coach Younis Ali changed the method to play in a 5-4-1 system by placing defender Mohammed Al-Saleh in a three-man defense line alongside Andre Amaro and David Garcia.
Changing the method was never effective, especially since Guedes was alone offensively, and the defensive tasks were many for the wings, and therefore in the last quarter of an hour, Mohammed Al Saleh came out and Al Rayyan returned to the 4-4-2 system and the situation improved offensively.
The second mistake: sitting Gabriel Pereira on the bench
Only Shanghai Port’s Oscar (7) created more scoring chances than Al Rayyan’s Gabriel Pereira (6) in the first round of the AFC Champions League. Pereira also created more chances from set pieces (4 chances) in the first round.
Is it logical to put the most important creative player on the team on the bench?! It was very strange, all for the sake of defending, but at least Pereira could lead the transitions and make the difference from set-pieces.
The third mistake: hiring Ashraq bin Sharqi
It was a mistake to put the Moroccan winger, Achraf Ben Sharqi, on the right side, where he is not good at playing, knowing that his favorite position in which he is good at playing is on the left side, in which he excelled.
As the pictures above show, in the first match against Al Hilal, Ashraf Bin Sharqi excelled on the left side and assisted the only goal for Guedes after he surpassed Joao Cancelo, and today again when he moved to the left, he assisted for the same player and in the same way.
It is clear that it will be difficult to have the Egyptian left winger Mahmoud Trezeguet and Ashraf Ben Sharqi together on the field, as Ben Sharqi’s strength is on the left, which is Trezeguet’s center, who was tried as a striker and failed.
Fourth mistake: set pieces
Al-Nasr benefited from Al-Rayyan’s most important gaps, which were in set-pieces. Before this match, Al-Rayyan had conceded 4 goals this season from set-pieces, whether corner kicks or fouls from outside the penalty area.
Al-Nasr succeeded in opening the scoring via a corner kick played twice, and once again Al-Rayyan’s defense failed to deal with it and Sadio Mane scored from it, confirming the truth of Al-Rayyan’s suffering with set-pieces, from which they have conceded 5 goals so far due to poor organization and handling of crosses.
