The first leg of the round of 16 ties in the AFC Champions League concludes with Sepahan hosting Al-Hilal on Thursday at Naghsh-e-Jahan Stadium in Iran.
Despite suffering a 2-1 defeat versus Al Ittihad in their final group fixture, the Iranians narrowly beat out Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya for second place due to head-to-head points, while the Saudis went unbeaten in the opening phase, topping their group thanks to a 2-1 triumph versus Nassaji Mazandaran.
Match preview
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By the thinnest of margins, Sepahan are through to the last 16 of this tournament for the first time since 2011-12, ending the opening phase as one of the best second-place finishers.
Due to numerous postponed matches, the Iranians have not played a meaningful game since a 1-0 defeat at Shams Azar on New Year's Day.
Jose Morais's men have not won a competitive fixture since a 5-0 triumph on December 19 over Havadar during their domestic campaign.
After going winless in their first two Champions League group fixtures, Sepahan came on strong near the tail end of that phase, winning three of their final four games, including their last two at home by a combined score of 10-0.
They had a 100% record in the group phase when netting the opener while claiming just a single point after conceding the first goal.
The last time they defeated a side from Saudi Arabia in this competition was in the 2014 group stage, erasing a 2-1 half-time deficit to claim a 3-2 victory over Al-Hilal.
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A dramatic last-gasp equaliser in their opening group fixture at the Champions League served as a good wakeup call for Al-Hilal, who cruised through the rest of the opening round, winning their next five matches by a combined score of 15-1.
That 1-1 draw on matchday one was the only time in the opening round that the Saudis were behind in this competition, enabling them to advance into the last 16 for the third time over the past four Champions League campaigns.
Along with Al-Nassr and Kawasaki Frontale, Jorge Jesus's men were the only other side to finish the group phase of this tournament unbeaten, while they wound up with the best goal differential in the opening stage (+16).
It is shaping up to be a big season for Al-Za'eem, who are seven points clear of Al-Nassr atop the Saudi Pro League table where they are unbeaten, while they also advanced into the semi-finals of the King Cup last December.
Al-Hilal did not concede a single goal away from home in the Champions League group stage, winning all but one of their domestic encounters on the road this season (1-1 draw with Damac).
In two previous Champions League encounters away to Sepahan, Al-Hilal have yet to win, though Thursday will be the first time both sides meet in a knockout fixture at this tournament.
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Team News
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On matchday six, Sepahan were without Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad and Hadi Mohammadi through suspension after they each received straight red cards against Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya.
As a result, we saw two new faces in their starting 11 on matchday six, with Bryan Dabo and Shahriyar Moghanlou coming into the fold in their place.
Kaveh Rezaei led them with three goals in the opening phase, coming on for Reza Asadi on matchday six to score their only goal of that match.
Neymar is still struggling to return to full fitness, with the Al-Hilal striker suffering a cruciate ligament tear sustained in October.
From matchday five to six at this tournament, there were two changes made to their starting 11, with Salman Al-Faraj and Michael replacing Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Mohammed Al-Qahtani.
Goals from Michael and Salem Al-Dawsari enabled them to defeat Nassaji Mazandaran on matchday six, while Aleksandar Mitrovic scored five times in the opening round, putting him one behind Cryzan and Talisca in the Golden Boot race.
Sepahan possible starting lineup:
Niazmand; Rezaeian, Dabo, Daneshgar, Zakipour; Shekari, Ghorbani; Ahmadzadeh, Karimi, Rezaei; Asadi
Al-Hilal possible starting lineup:
Bono; Abdulhamid, Koulibaly, Al-Bulaihi, Al-Breik; Kanno, Al-Malki; Michael, Al-Hamdan, S. Al-Dawsari; Mitrovic
We say: Sepahan 0-4 Al-Hilal
Even without Neymar, Al-Hilal have plenty of dependable attacking options, and we do not believe the Iranians will be able to contain a side that have blown away most of their opponents throughout the campaign.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
