ACL MD5 – Group C: Al Hilal vs. Tractorsazi Tabriz [Preview – VIDEO]

AFC – DOHA, Al Hilal trail Tractorsazi by a single point at the top of Group C and the Iranians will advance if they draw. Al Hilal, meanwhile, need a victory to be guaranteed their place in the Round of 16.

“We will be giving a rest to some of our key players in the match as we are battling on different fronts and this means that we should rotate our players to use all of them in different matches,” said Donis, whose side are in second place in the Saudi league after a 3-2 win over Najran on Friday.

“The match against Tractorsazi is very important because it comes at such a delicate period of the season. We will go into the match with one target and that is to get the three points in order to advance from the group.”

Former AFC Player of the Year Nasser Al Shamrani, who was named Asia’s leading player after his exploits for Al Hilal in the 2014 AFC Champions League, was amongst those not part of the club’s travelling party to Qatar, where the game is being played due to the political tension and strained diplomatic relations between the governments of Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Tractorsazi, meanwhile, drew with Saba Qom in the Iranian league on Thursday, the first time the club has not won in four games and Amir Ghalehnoy is hoping his team can continue to show the form that has seen them pick up nine points from their first three AFC Champions League matches this season.

“We want to continue our good run in the competition and remain on top of the group,” said the former Team Melli coach. “We are playing against a strong team and the match will not be easy for us but I’m confident that our players will get a positive result.

“I hope that we could secure our place in the Round of 16 in this match day although the game will not be easy. There are no big difference between our team and Al Hilal as we are only one point ahead of them in the group which means that the match will be hard for both sides.”