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West: Group D
In Group D, Al Hilal are favourites to beat Mes Kerman in Riyadh after Eric Gerets’ side trounced Al Sadd 3-0 in Doha last month with a brace from Saudi Arabia striker Yasser Al Qahtani and a late third from Brazilian Thiago Neves.
Hilal, who secured the 2009-10 Saudi league title in January and won the Crown Prince Cup in February, are among the tournament favourites following a superb season under Gerets, who joined the club last summer from French giants Marseille, having won the Belgian, Dutch and Turkish leagues as a coach.
“The AFC Champions League is our top priority. We’ve achieved 60 per cent of our goals for this season and now we’re looking at the remaining 40 per cent,” said Gerets, Belgium’s second most-capped player.
“We now have two games at home and playing in front of our own supporters will help us. We know we’re facing tough teams in this group, but we’re ready.”
Despite struggling in the Iran Pro League, Mes beat reigning UAE champions Al Ahli 4-2 in Kerman last month, with former Iran striker Mahdi Rajabzadeh bagging a brace in the final 15 minutes to help the hosts rally from 2-1 down.
Ahli, who are having a disappointing domestic season, host Sadd in the group’s other fixture in Dubai.
Sadd, currently second in the 2009-10 Qatar Stars League, are competing in their seventh AFC Champions League and bidding to reach the knockout stage for the second time after reaching the quarter-finals in 2005.
West: Group C
Group C leaders Pakhtakor, the only club to have competed in all eight editions of the AFC Champions League, will have a home tie in Tashkent against Al Shabab, who currently lie second in the Saudi league.
Pakhtakor, who have won eight Uzbek league titles and 10 Uzbekistan Cups, beat Al Ain 1-0 in the UAE on matchday one and will be inspired by Bunyodkor’s victory over Saudi visitors Al Ittihad in Tashkent two weeks ago.
Shabab, knocked out by Al Ittihad in last year’s round of 16, drew 1-1 with Sepahan in Riyadh last month as the White Lions bid to reach the knockout stage for the third time in five editions.
Sepahan, current leaders of the 2009-10 Iran Pro League, reached the final of the 2007 AFC Champions League and the Esfahan club will be looking for all three points when they host Ain, winners of the inaugural AFC Champions League in 2003.
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