Iranian Teams Hard to Play against, says Benatia
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Moroccan defender Medhi Benatia, currently playing for Qatar’s Al Duhail, said Iranian teams are really hard to play against.
Al Duhail defeated Esteghlal 3-0 in Group C of the 2019 AFC Champions League on Tuesday.
After a scoreless first half against the Iranian side, Benatia headed home the first goal as the hour approached to ease any opening-day nerves, before Youssef El Arabi and substitute Ali Afif both got on the scoresheet as the Qatari champions got off to a perfect start.
For Benatia, who was making his AFC Champions League debut after joining from Juventus, the game brought back memories of when he last faced Iranian opposition, back in June.
Morocco dominated against Iran in their opening match at the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018, only to concede deep into stoppage time and suffer an agonizing 1-0 defeat.
“As long as you don’t score the first goal it’s always going to be difficult, the first goal unlocks the game a little bit,” said Benatia, who reached the 2016-17 UEFA Champions League final with Juventus.
“We knew that Iranian teams are really hard to play against. I remember a bad experience we had at the World Cup with Morocco when we dominated the whole game but lost 1-0 in the end.
“The Iranian teams are like that so we had to score that first goal and then we could build on it, but I think in the first half we still had control of the game,” he added.
Al Duhail will travel to Riyadh to face Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal in its next Group C game on Tuesday, while Esteghlal will host Al Ain of the UAE in Tehran.
