Losses for Esteghlal and Sepahan in ACL

Persianfootball.com – KUALA LUMPUR, Besides Foolad Khuzestan’s goalless draw and Tractorsazi’s much celebrated win, the other two Iranian clubs suffered defeats on matchday 1 of AFC’s Champions League.
On Wednesday, Sepahan Esfahan could make up a one goal deficit in their away game with Al Sadd through a beautiful goal from youngster Mehdi Sharifi, but two late goals from the Qataris sealed Sepahan’s destiny.

Already on Tuesday, Esteghlal suffered a bitter 0-1 home defeat to Saudi’s Al Shabab in Tehran’s Azadi stadium.

The AFC Champions League season will be a short one for all the Iranian national team players in the participating club, as after round 4 all of them need to report to the national team camp, therefore missing out the final two matches of the group stage and a possible 1/8 final match.