The trio of Karim Benzema, Moadh Faqihi, and Steven Bergwijn will be absent from Al-Ittihad’s ranks in their highly anticipated match against Al-Shorta of Iraq, scheduled for Monday evening at the Al-Madina International Stadium in Baghdad, as part of the third round of the AFC Champions League Elite.
Al-Ittihad Club announced in an official statement that Karim Benzema’s absence is due to a bruise in his right leg, for which he is currently undergoing an intensive rehabilitation program. As for Moadh Faqihi, he is suffering from a sprained left ankle accompanied by a ligament injury, and he will begin his rehabilitation program at the club.
Steven Bergwijn is absent due to a health issue and is receiving care and monitoring from the team’s medical staff.
In contrast, the team’s squad called up for the match against Al-Shorta of Iraq witnessed the return of Algerian player Houssam Aouar, after recovering from the injury he sustained recently.
It is worth mentioning that Houssam Aouar missed the last Al-Fayha match in the Saudi League due to a technical decision by Portuguese coach Sérgio Conceição, in coordination with the medical staff, due to his lack of full readiness after the injury he suffered in the hamstring during the Clasico match against Al-Nassr, which forced him to leave the field in the 33rd minute. The medical staff was keen not to rush the player’s return to matches before ensuring his full recovery, to avoid any potential relapse.
According to press reports, the team’s list traveling to Iraq included 10 foreign players: Serbians Predrag Rajković and Jan-Carlo Simić, Portuguese Danilo Pereira and Roger Fernandes, Albanian Mario Mitaj, Frenchmen N’Golo Kanté and Moussa Diaby, Brazilian Fabinho, Ivorian Mohammadu Doumbia, in addition to Algerian Houssam Aouar.
Al-Ittihad will conduct a final training session at Al-Madina International Stadium in Baghdad before Portuguese coach Sérgio Conceição puts the final touches on the plan and tactical approach he will follow in the match.
Al-Ittihad enters this Asian clash occupying eleventh place without any points, after suffering two defeats in the previous two rounds against Shabab Al-Ahli and Al-Wahda of the UAE.
As for Al-Shorta of Iraq, they enter the match with one point, which they obtained from a draw with Al-Sadd of Qatar and a loss to Al-Gharafa (0-2). The Iraqi team seeks to exploit the home advantage and the crowd to achieve its first victory in the AFC Champions League Elite this season.
After returning from Iraq, Al-Ittihad awaits a fiery Clasico match against Al-Hilal next Friday, as part of the sixth round of the Saudi Roshn League, in an early test for the new coach.
Al-Ittihad will also face another strong match against Al-Nassr on October 28, in the round of 16 of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup at Al-Awwal Park Stadium, in a meeting that has a revenge flavor, after Al-Nassr’s superiority over Al-Ittihad on two occasions this season.
Press reports stated that the Clasico match between Al-Nassr and Al-Ittihad in the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup, scheduled to be held on October 28 at Al-Awwal Park Stadium, will be managed by a Saudi refereeing crew, and foreign referees will not be used.
Reports indicate that Al-Nassr and Al-Ittihad did not submit an official request to bring in a foreign refereeing crew to manage the match, which reinforces the assumption of assigning the task to a local refereeing crew. The regulations for bringing in foreign referees stipulate that the club must submit an official request accompanied by the required financial amounts at least 14 days before the date of the match.
Since only 9 days separate us from the match, and neither club has submitted a request to bring in foreign referees, the general trend indicates reliance on a local refereeing crew to manage this highly anticipated clash.
This match will be the third meeting between Al-Nassr and Al-Ittihad this season, as they previously met in the semi-final of the Saudi Super Cup, and Al-Nassr won with a score of 2-1. Then the meeting was renewed in the fourth round of the Roshn League, and Al-Nassr decided it with a clean double.
The loss in the Super Cup match was the first spark for the decline in Al-Ittihad’s performance and caused the departure of French coach Laurent Blanc and the contracting with Portuguese Sérgio Conceição.
The upcoming match will be the 20th meeting between coaches Sérgio Conceição and Jorge Jesus, after they have met 19 times before in Portugal. Jesus had the upper hand in 7 matches, compared to 6 victories for Conceição, while 6 matches ended in a draw.
At the level of cups, Conceição is superior to Jesus, as he decided the qualification at his expense on 3 occasions, including the 2020 Portuguese Super Cup final, while Jesus was victorious on two occasions.
source: 961 today
