Qatar’s Al Sadd have their task cut out as they face Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal in their AFC Champions League first-leg semifinal in Doha on Tuesday. The kick-off is at 18:30 at the Al Sadd Stadium.

Al Sadd reached the semifinal by defeating Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr, while Al Hilal progressed to the last-four stage after putting it across Al Ittihad, also from that country.

The Al Sadd-Al Hilal return leg will be played in Riyadh on October 22.

Al Sadd will target nothing less than a victory in front of home fans as that would give them a big advantage when they play the second leg away.

The 2011 AFC Champions League winners had begun their preparations on 25th September, a day after their 3-1 victory over Al Sailiya in the QNB Stars League’s deferred match from Week 3.

Al Sadd are on a high as they are leading the QNB Stars League table with a match in hand, as their Qatar Derby against Al Arabi was postponed due to the AFC Champions League engagement against Al Hilal.

Al Sadd’s coaching staff, led by Spain and Barcelona great Xavi Hernandez, mainly focused on the technical and physical aspects of the players.

The training sessions witnessed strong participation of Asia’s best player and left-back Abdelkarim Hassan, who is regaining his fitness, among others.

Ahmed Al Kaf of Oman will officiate the match. His compatriots Abdullah Saeed and Omar Al Yaqoobi will be the assistant referees. Abdullah Ali will be the fourth official.

Al Sadd qualified for the quarterfinals by defeating Qatar’s Al Duhail. They reached the Round of 16 after topping Group D with 10 points.