Al Wahda head coach Javier Aguirre is dreaming of the AFC Champions League and has labelled his side’s clash with Al Nasr as the biggest game of their season.
Wahda welcome the Blue Wave to Al Nahyan Stadium tomorrow with Aguirre looking to halve the six-point deficit to Ivan Jovanovic’s team.
Third-placed Nasr currently occupy the final Champions League place and the Mexican has been drumming the significance of this match into his players every day.
“This is the most important game of the season, because Al Nasr are in third place,” said the 57-year-old.
“They have the last ticket to the Champions League, so this is our target. We can cut this gap from six to three. We have eight games in front of us so until the end we will fight. This is the most important game and I am repeating this to my players all day long.”
The former Atletico Madrid supremo said he was encouraged by his side’s performance against Arabian Gulf League leaders and reigning champions Al Ain in their last game.
AGL top scorer Sebastian Tagliabue gave Wahda the lead at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium last Friday with his 16th strike, before the home side fought back with Douglas and Omar Abdulrahman goals to claim a 2-1 victory.
Wahda and Nasr drew 0-0 in the reverse fixture in October, a game in which Nasr forward Jires Kembo Ekoko was blamed for getting Wahda defender Mohammed Al Menhali sent off, but Aguirre dismissed suggestions that would matter in this game.
“I have no problem (with Kembo). I forgot what happened until now. We are focused on the game, nothing else,” insisted Aguirre, who claimed his club’s fans can carry the Clarets to victory against the Blue Wave.
“We will play in our stadium so we have to start strongly. They (the fans) are important for us.
“Against Al Jazira they were fantastic and we won. They supported us in Al Ain too and we thank them.
“When fans come to the match it helps the players play better.”
ترتيب الفرق بعد الجولة 17 من #دوري_الخليج_العربي
— Arabian Gulf League (@AGLeague) February 6, 2016
The #AGLeague standings after Round 17 pic.twitter.com/iuAOWgZuBQ
Aguirre also believes goals will be at a premium, with the league’s fourth and sixth-best defences on show.
“We won’t have much space to play and there won’t be many goals, maybe it will be 0-0 or 1-0, but not five or four, not lots of goals. It will be a tight game,” he said.
Nasr counterpart Jovanovic, meanwhile, described Wahda as a “worthy adversary”, and said he was impressed by their performance in the Garden City.
“Our games against them are always strong and interesting because it is a good team,” said the 53-year-old Serb.
“It is a worthy adversary, they played an excellent match against the leaders, but lost. I think that this confirms that they can provide high levels of football in the next game, but we know our goals, and we will try to provide everything in our inventory (to win).”
