Cosmin Olaroiu has told his Al Ahli players to learn lessons from their defeat to Al Ain or face another damaging Arabian Gulf League loss against Al Nasr on Friday.
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The second-placed Red Knights play host to their in-form Dubai rivals, who are just one place behind them with the fixture coming less than a week since a 3-0 humiliation at the Hazza bin Zayd Stadium. They were outplayed throughout by the champions and saw their 100 per cent winning start to 2015-16 come to a crashing halt.
Olaroiu, whose squad face seven matches in all competitions during December after the delays caused by last month’s AFC Champions League final defeat to Guangzhou Evergrande, said: “We face a strong team, who are playing hard. We now have another difficult test and we must not repeat the same mistakes that occurred in the match against Al Ain.
“We must have more determination and fight in every game, because this is the way which will lead us to victory. Even in the last game, we had a good performance and possession of the ball but we paid the price for some errors.
“I’ve seen the joy of others when they beat Al Ahli, so under all circumstances we must be fighting, fighting. Such battles are important in the end to win our war. We hope that we have learned from what happened and that we fight for victory in the next matches.”
Opponents Nasr lifted the President’s Cup – beating Ahli on penalties – and Arabian Gulf Cup last term, but have transformed their squad as they search for an elusive first top-flight crown since 1986.
One summer arrival was Luis Jimenez, the playmaker joining on a free transfer after four successful seasons at tomorrow’s opposition.
Coach Ivan Jovanovic is convinced the 31-year-old Chile international will win the battle against his emotions on his return to Rashid Stadium.
1.1 m offer made by Al Ahli Dubai for Romanian star Constantin Budescu. If he goes, he’ll be the star of the season in the UAE.
— Emanuel Roşu (@Emishor) December 9, 2015
He said: “Luis Jimenez was for four years with Al Ahli and he experienced very good years while he played there. His presence at Al Nasr during his first six months has been excellent.
“Of course, this happens in football (playing your former team). Emotions come and go. But he is a professional player. What will be in his mind will be how his current team can win the game.
“You have emotions before you enter the field. But once you come inside the field, you think only about how your team will win the game.”
Ahli have two games in hand on the Boss, but will need to keep up their momentum to catch them. They stumbled to a goalless draw in the AG Cup at Bani Yas on Monday and midfielder Habib Fardan – who was signed from Nasr in August 2014 – wants a return to winning ways.
He said: “The match is important for us, especially as we played two days ago, which was 48 hours after the Al Ain defeat. Now, it is important for us to win.
“The Al Ain match has been played and has been studied. Now, all the things are in our hands, specifically to compete for the top spot. We have two games where we have to win in order to be the leaders.”
