Zlatko Dalic, the Al Ain coach, will put aside old friendships to focus on getting his side to the final of the Asian Champions League.
The Croat returns to the King Fahd International Stadium in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday night for the semi-final, first-leg encounter with Al Hilal, the team he managed to Crown Prince Cup success last year.
Now at Al Ain, after replacing Quique Sanchez Flores in March, Dalic has overseen a remarkable ACL run in which the UAE club remain unbeaten in 14 matches, culminating last month in qualification for a first Champions League semi-final since 2005.
Al Ain defeated Al Ittihad, another Saudi side, 5-1 on aggregate to set up the clash with Hilal, the most decorated club in Saudi Arabia and twice champions of Asia. Al Ain have lifted the continental competition once, in 2003.
“It is a big result for our club and for me, personally,” Dalic said. “To be placed among the four best teams in Asia is a superb achievement, but we want more, and I’m confident that we can make an even better result.
“Al Hilal are a big club, the best club in Asia in the 20th century, and for me this is a special match. I’m playing against my former club, against players that I used to coach, so there are no big secrets.
“I know Al Hilal and their players very well, and also they know my style and my work. I respect Al Hilal as a team, but also I respect my players and my current club, and I believe that we will move forward to the finals.”
Hilal, who defeated Qatar's Al Sadd in the quarter-finals, may have a slight advantage going into the tie, however, since they are four rounds in to the Saudi Pro League season. In contrast, Al Ain have yet to begin the 2014/15 Arabian Gulf League campaign. But Dalic is adamant his side will not lean on that should they fail to get a result. He concedes the atmosphere at the typically deafening King Fahd stadium provides his side with another challenge.
“It is a bad situation for us since we have played only two competitive games in this season, but we must be ready since there are no excuses,” he said. “We won our last three away games in the Champions League, and although we are aware that we will be facing 70,000 loud fans, we are ready for it. I will tell my players they must concentrate only on the pitch.
“I believe in my team and I will try to push them forward. I’m very optimistic about this game.”
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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