Historic progression to the AFC Champions League quarter-finals will have double its usual worth after a trying campaign packed full of problems, according to Al Ahli boss Cosmin Olaroiu.
The Red Knights won a treble under the Romanian during his glorious 2013/14 debut campaign.
But their fortunes have been largely reversed this term, being dethroned as Arabian Gulf League champions thanks to a dreadful seventh-placed finish and ceding their Arabian Gulf Cup in the group stage.
The continent’s premier club competition has provided a welcome source of relief however, this year’s run to a round-of-16 meeting with fellow Emiratis Al Ain marking a first-ever entry into the knockout stages.
Olaroiu’s men know scoring a draw at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in the round-of-16 second leg will be enough to make the last eight thanks to the away-goals rule, an achievement even as storied a coach as Olaroiu would savour.
“For me, any game is important – not only the trophies,” he said, speaking yesterday in the city where he won the 2011/12 and 2012/13 top-flight titles with Al Ain.
“The most important thing for me is the next game, it doesn’t matter against who you play.
"For us passing these difficult moments, these players made a fantastic effort and a fantastic job to be here with all the problems we have.
“Sometimes, when you pass this moment the victory is double.”
Ahli forced visiting goalkeeper Khalid Essa to produce a handful of wonderful saves in a largely-tight goalless first leg, a low effort from onrushing UAE team-mate Majed Hassan the standout.
Scoring has been a problem for them all season, only registering 35 times in the AGL – the sixth-worst record.
They scored freely in Saturday’s rollercoaster 5-3 President’s Cup quarter-final triumph against UAE Division 1 Group A outfit Dubai Club though, and Olaroiu laid out his attacking intent for this evening’s decider.
He said: “Of course, if we score in a draw then we qualify. We know what we have to do, we need to score one or more goals. That is why we have prepared a strategy that may work for us.”
