Before the AFC Champions League final: Al Ain beats Al Hilal 4-2

The UAE club Al Ain defeated its guest, Al Hilal Saudi Arabia, 4-2 at Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain, in the first leg of the 2023-2024 AFC Champions League semi-final. Sufyan Rahimi (6 and 27 from a penalty kick and 38 from a penalty kick) and Alejandro Romero Caco (56 from a penalty kick) scored the goals for Al Ain, while Malcolm (49) and Salem Al Dosari (78) scored the goals for Al Hilal.

The return match between the two teams will take place on Tuesday, April 23, at the Kingdom Arena Stadium in Riyadh.

In the group stage, Al Hilal topped the fourth group standings with 16 points from six matches, compared to 13 points for Uzbekistan’s Navbahor, and 6 for Iran’s Nasaji Mazandaran, while India’s Mumbai City FC remained devoid of points, then it won in the round of 16 over Iran’s Sepahan by 6 – 2 in the aggregate of the two matches, and in the quarter-finals against its compatriot Al-Ittihad by 4-0 in the aggregate of the two matches.

On the other hand, Al Ain topped the standings of the first group with 15 points from six matches, compared to 9 points for Al-Fayhaa of Saudi Arabia, 7 for Pakhtakor of Uzbekistan and 4 for Al-Turkman, and won in the round of 16 over Nasaf of Uzbekistan by 2-1 on aggregate of the two matches, and in the quarter-finals over Al-Nasr of Saudi Arabia by a difference. Penalty kicks 3-1 after the two teams tied 4-4 on aggregate.