Qatar’s Al Duhail will play host to the UAE’s Al Ain in the third round of 2019 AFC Champions League on Monday, 8th April. The kick-off is at 18:30.

It will be a repeat of last year’s Round-of-16 clash between Al Duhail and Al Ain, with the former emerging as 4-1 winners at home 11 months ago.

Al Duhail are second in Group C with three points, behind Al Hilal (six). The Red Knights defeated Iran’s Esteghlal 3-0 in the first round at home before going down to Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal 1-3 at the King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh.

So the encounter assumes much significance. Victory will enhance Al Duhail’s chances of reaching the knockout stage.

Al Duhail, coached by Portuguese Rui Faria, will also want to put behind the disappointment of losing out on the QNB Stars League title to Al Sadd last week.

They are expected to field a full squad that includes key players such as Ahmed Yasser, Mehdi Benatia, Mohammed Moosa, Shoya Nakajima, Bassam Al Rawi, Almoez Ali, Yousef El Arabi and Karim Boudiaf.

On the other hand, Al Ain are yet to record a win in the 2019 AFC Champions League. They lost 0-1 at home to an Al Hilal side led by their former manager Zoran Mamic before clawing back to snatch a 1-1 draw against Esteghlal at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran.

Esteghlal also have one point, but are placed last in the group.