Al Hilal manager Laurentiu Reghecampf has warned his side against complacency ahead of tonight’s AFC Champions League semi-final second leg in Al Ain.
The Saudi side take a 3-0 lead into the clash following a dominant win in Riyadh a fortnight ago.
Most observers would have you believe that it is already game over, but Hilal’s Romanian coach is remaining cautious.
“We are happy with the result as we scored three goals, but this doesn’t mean that we are in the final,” said Reghecampf.
“In football a lot of things happen, and hopefully we can repeat the good performance that we had in the second leg.”
Hilal are in the midst of a rich spell of form and went top of the Saudi Professional League (SPL) standings courtesy of a 2-1 away victory over Al Fateh last Thursday.
Going into an AFC Champions League second leg with a 3-0 lead is actually not a new experience for Hilal.
In the 2010 quarter-finals, they won the home leg against Qatar’s Al Gharafa 3-0. In second leg, they lost 4-2 to scrape through.
However, striker Yasser Al Qahtani, who played for Al Ain on loan in 2011-12, has dismissed any suggestion of it being a factor.
He said: “I think the only similarity between the two situations is that teams are from the Gulf region. We now have a different way of playing, and a completely different list of players.
“One advantage is that it is a prior experience with the same situation. We can make use of that for tomorrow
