ACL: Shahr Khodro face difficult task ahead of Pakhtakor match

Tasnim – TASHKENT, The second away trip in its debut AFC Champions League campaign takes Iran’s Shahr Khodro FC to Tashkent where it faces Pakhtakor FC on Matchday Two of Group B on Monday.

The task ahead for coach Mojtaba Sarasiaei’s men is a daunting one against a Pakhtakor FC side that has won each of its nine home encounters against Iranian opponents in the AFC Champions League, keeping five clean sheets in the process. The Uzbek side had previously defeated another Iran side – Naft Tehran – in its debut campaign in 2015, and Shahr Khodro will hope to avoid the same fate.

The Mashhad-based side reached the group stage after edging Bahrain’s Riffa SC 2-1 in the Preliminary Round 2 then holding Qatar’s Al Sailiyah to a goalless draw before emerging victorious on penalties in the Play-off.

For Monday’s host, a return to the AFC Champions League knock-out stages for the first time in a decade is the ultimate objective, but for now Pakhtakor will aim to build on its 2-1 victory over Shabab Al Ahli last week to reach six points.

The 2018-19 Uzbek Super League winner is appearing in the competition for the 14th time, a record very few teams can match but that record has not translated into much success so far, with Pakhtakor’s best result in the AFC Champions League being their back-to-back semi-finals in the very first two editions of the competition.

The match will be held at the Pakhtakor Stadium in Tashkent on Monday.