Needing a victory to prolong their AFC Champions League campaign, Al-Nassr will host Al-Ain in leg two of that quarter-final tie on Monday at Al-Awwal Stadium.
In the opening leg last Monday, Al Zaeem handed the Saudis their first defeat of the competition this season, coming away with a 1-0 triumph.
Match preview
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After their first quarter-final fixture, Al-Nassr are in danger of being knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time since 2018-19.
A week ago, they were held off the scoresheet for the first time away from home in this season's tournament despite firing five efforts on target.
Al-Nassr have not been knocked out of this competition at the quarter-final stage since losing to Qatari giants Al Sadd 4-3 on aggregate over four years ago.
That was the last time the knockout stage of this tournament was a two-legged affair and the only time that Al-Nassr had been eliminated from a Champions League tie.
Luis Castro's men enter this contest unbeaten at home in this competition, but they are winless in their last two competitive fixtures played at Al-Awwal Stadium, suffering a 3-1 domestic defeat in Riyadh versus Al-Raed on Thursday.
Faris Najd have never beaten a side from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the knockout portion of this tournament at home, but they did win their only previous second-leg fixture against a team from that league in 2019, beating Al-Wahda 3-2 and advancing from that last 16 tie, 4-3 on aggregate.
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Al-Ain are a step closer to making the Champions League semi-finals for the first time since 2016, having posted a clean sheet for the second time in their last three knockout fixtures at this tournament.
Hernan Crespo's side are currently unbeaten in 10 consecutive matches in all competitions, advancing into the final of the UAE Cup on penalties earlier this week.
The record 14-time UAE Pro League champions are riding an eight-match unbeaten run away from home in all competitions and have not lost a Champions League fixture on the road this season.
AIN have advanced beyond the quarter-finals of this tournament in two of their previous three appearances at this stage and have only lost the second leg of those ties once (3-0 versus Al-Hilal in 2017).
Up to now, this team have only conceded one goal in the opening 45 minutes, and they have a 100% record versus Saudi opponents in the Champions League this season, defeating Al-Fayha twice by a single goal in the group stage.
They have kept Al-Nassr off the scoresheet in two of their previous three meetings at this tournament, winning their only away match against them in the Champions League during the 2020 campaign (1-0).
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Team News
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On Monday, Al-Nassr will be without defender Aymeric Laporte after the Spain international was sent off in stoppage time in the opening leg last week.
Talisca will be doubtful for this upcoming fixture due to a muscle issue, Waleed Abdullah hurt his leg and is unlikely to feature, while Raghed Al-Najjar will not be available because of an unknown injury.
Last Monday, David Ospina made his first Champions League start in goal for Al-Nassr this season, while the all-time leading goalscorer in the UEFA Champions League, Cristiano Ronaldo saw his two-match scoring run in this competition come to an end.
Crespo brought two newcomers into the Al-Ain starting 11 on Monday who did not begin their second leg round of 16 fixture versus Nasaf, with Erik and Kaku replacing Omer Atzili and Kojdo Fo-Doh Laba.
Sultan Al-Shamsi made his first appearance in the knockout stage for this side a week ago, replacing Soufiane Rahimi in the latter stages of second-half stoppage time.
Rahimi notched the winning goal for the second successive time in this Champions League campaign, while Khalid Eisa stopped all five shots that he faced for his third clean sheet of the competition.
Al-Nassr possible starting lineup:
Ospina; Al-Ghannam, Lajami, Al-Amri, Behich; Al-Khaibari, Al-Najei; Yahya, Otavio, Mane; Ronaldo
Al-Ain possible starting lineup:
Eisa; Al-Ahbabi, Al-Hashemi, Autonne, Erik; Yong-woo; Waleed, Barman, Palacios; Kaku, Rahimi
We say: Al-Nassr 0-0 Al-Ain (Al-Ain advances 1-0 on aggregate)
As difficult as it is to bet against Ronaldo and his reputation for stepping up in big games, his side are in a slump at the moment and looking uncharacteristically impatient.
On the other hand, Al-Ain have been cool under pressure in the knockout portion of this tournament, and as a team, we believe they are capable of frustrating Al-Nassr and throwing them off their game once again.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
