Qatar's Al Duhail SC will meet Al Ahli Saudi FC in Group C of the 2021 AFC Champions League in Jeddah on Sunday.

The second match of Group C will bring together Iraq's Al Shorta and Iran's Esteghlal.

Esteghlal FC takes the lead of the Group by 3 points.

Al Duhail looks forwards to achieving its second win in the Group after it had defeated Al Shorta 2-0 in the last round. Meanwhile, Al Ahli lost 5-2 to Esteghlal in the first round.

Al Duhail head coach Sabri Lamouchi was delighted with Al Duhail's win over Al Shorta, describing it as hugely important in their bid to earn the automatic to the Round of 16.

Al Duhail came into the tournament having seen Al Sadd SC run away with the Qatar Stars League title and a prolonged run in the 2021 AFC Champions League will go a long way in erasing their disappointment.

Michael Olunga and Edmilson Junior were the scorers against Al Shorta but Al Duhail have a very potent looking squad and Lamouchi will be confident of another three points against Al Ahli.

"Tomorrows match will be different for us," said Lamouchi. "We had a good start to the competition but we know that we will be playing against a strong team that wants to recover after their opening defeat which means there are a lot of challenges for us."

"Al Ahli are a big team and they have excellent players but we will try our best to improve and focus on our own team. There is no doubt that there are a lot of challenges like the heavy schedule, the late kick-offs, in addition to the special conditions of Ramadan. All of this means that we will need to make the right decisions in order to avoid any difficulties," he added.

On the other hand, Al Ahli head coach Laurentiu Reghecampf felt Al Ahli did not deserve to lose by such an emphatic margin as the Saudi side had their moments against an impressive Esteghlal.

The Romanian, however, knows his team have no margin for error against Al Duhail, especially with only the group winners assured of advancing to the Round of 16.

"This match is very important and we should avoid another defeat," said Reghecampf. "We know that we will be playing a team that plays good football. We have tried our best to improve the confidence of the players after the previous defeat."

(QNA)