4/15/2024–|Last updated: 4/16/202403:24 PM (Mecca time)
The Asian Football Confederation announced that the match between Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates and its guest, Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia, in the first leg of the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League, will be held tomorrow, Wednesday, at Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium at 19:00 Mecca time.
The Continental Football Association postponed the anticipated Arab confrontation, which was scheduled today at the same time and on the same stadium, due to bad weather conditions in the Emirates.
The Federation said – in a statement on its official website – that “the match was postponed due to weather conditions.”
He added, “The match was scheduled to be held on Tuesday at Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain at 8:00 pm local time, but following the directives of the authorities in the Emirates, the UAE Football Association suspended all football activities on Tuesday, in order to… Maintaining the safety of fans, players and all parties.”
He continued, “The match has been rescheduled to be held tomorrow, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, and it will be held in the same stadium and at the same time.”
Since Monday, the Emirates have been struck by a strong storm accompanied by heavy rains. The Emirati government announced the activation of remote work and study for employees and students, and sports federations postponed all activities scheduled for Tuesday.
Postponing the match between Al Ain of the Emirates and Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia in the first leg of the semi-final #AFC_Champions_League Due to weather conditions.
The match has been rescheduled and will be held tomorrow, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, at 20:00 local time.https://t.co/T2C0MADzk8
– AFC Champions League (@theAFCCL_ar) April 16, 2024
Al Ain, the Emirati champion in 2003, in an upcoming Gulf summit, will face its guest, Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia, which has won the most titles with 4 titles – on Tuesday – in the first leg of the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League competition, and they are on opposite sides.
Al Ain did not know the taste of victory in the last 4 matches in all competitions (which ended with two defeats and two draws), while Al Hilal continued its longest series of victories in the history of football by reaching victory No. 34 in a row in all competitions.
Al Ain and Al Hilal know each other well, as they met in the competition 14 times, exchanging 6 victories each and drawing twice.
The Emirati team hopes to include Al-Hilal in the list of its victims from Saudi clubs in the current edition, after it defeated Al-Fayhaa in the first leg 4-1 and back 3-2 in the group stage, before skipping Al-Nasr.
Al Ain returned strongly to the Asian Championship this season after missing two successive editions, and qualified for the semi-finals for the first time since 2016 at the expense of Al Nassr after defeating them in the first leg 1-0 and then in the return leg on penalties 3-1 after losing in regular and extra time 3-4.
Moroccan Sofiane Rahimi was one of the stars of the two quarter-final matches against Al-Nasr by scoring 3 goals, so Serbian Alexander Mitrovic (Al-Hilal) and Brazilian Krizan da Cruz (Shandong Taishan, China) shared the top scorers with 8 goals.
Al Ain 🆚 Al Hilal 🔥#AFC_Champions_League pic.twitter.com/F5GcfLVfzk
– AFC Champions League (@theAFCCL_ar) April 1, 2024
Rahimi and Paraguayan Alejandro Romero “Kaku” will form an attacking trio with Togolese returnee Kodjo Laba, who missed the last two continental matches due to injury.
For its part, Al Hilal is in great technical condition that has put it at the top of the Saudi League, 12 points ahead of its rival, Al Nassr. On Thursday, it also won the Super Cup title in Abu Dhabi after its great victory over Al Ittihad in the final 4-1, including a brace by Brazilian Malcolm de Oliveira.
Al Hilal was not affected by Mitrovic’s absence due to the injury, which will also keep him out of the Al Ain match, and de Oliveira carried out the task of scoring goals, including 3 in the last two matches in the Saudi League and the same in the two Super Cup matches.
His Portuguese coach, Jorge Jesus, hopes to capitalize on the euphoric season his team is experiencing in order to lead him to a fifth title in the competition, the semi-finals of which witness a South Korean-Japanese confrontation in the East region between Ulsan Hyundai and Yokohama FC Marinos, who will meet on Wednesday in the first leg at the former’s home ground.
Al Hilal played in the semi-finals last season when it rained 7-0 goals against Al-Duhail, before losing the final against Japan’s Urawa Red Diamonds, drawing 1-1 in the first match, then losing with a clean goal in the second match.
While Al Ain’s last appearance was in the semi-finals in 2016, when it faced Al Jaish of Qatar and defeated it 3-1 in the first leg and tied 2-2 in the second leg, qualifying for the final match, where it lost to Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors of South Korea 3-2 on aggregate in the two legs.
The Asian Football Confederation announced that the match between Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates and its guest, Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia, will be held tomorrow, Wednesday, at 19:00 Mecca time. pic.twitter.com/qjHSxewrHq
– Al Jazeera Net Sports (@AJASports) April 16, 2024
The date of the Al Ain and Al Hilal match in the AFC Champions League semi-finals
The match between Al Ain and Al Hilal in the first leg of the AFC Champions League semi-final will be held on Tuesday, April 16, at Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium.
The Gulf confrontation will start at 19:00 Mecca time, 20:00 UAE time.
Channels broadcasting the Al Ain and Al Hilal match
The match will be broadcast on the Qatari beIN Sports channels (beIN Sports AFC HD).
The match can be watched inside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia via the SSC1 HD channel.
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