ACL 2020: Persepolis Needs to Beat Al-Taawoun
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Persepolis and Saudi Arabia’s Al-Taawoun lock horns at Education City Stadium in the second 2020 AFC Champions League Group C fixture on Tuesday.
Persepolis will resume its continental duties on a high, having secured its fourth consecutive Iran Pro League title with a 14-point margin.
Al Taawoun, meanwhile, survived a domestic scare, managing to avoid relegation on the final day of the season, having finished third in 2018-19.
On the AFC Champions League front, Al-Taawoun started brightly, winning its opening two matches, with Faisal Darwish settling the away tie against Sharjah while goals from veteran Mohammed Al Sahlawi and Abdulmajeed Al Swat downed Al Duhail SC 2-0.
A win on Tuesday will see the Saudis takes an important leap towards qualification to the Round of 16 for the first time in its history, its only previous appearance in the competition culminating in a group stage exit in 2017.
Persepolis needs to collect as many points from its two back-to-back ties against Al-Taawoun if it is to keep its chances of advancing to the knockout stage alive and to avoid a disappointment similar to that of last year when it exited in the group stage having been finalists the year before.
Coach Yahya Golmohammadi’s men face Saudi opposition for the sixth time in the AFC Champions League, having won once, drawn as many and lost three, while Al-Taawoun faces its second Iranian opposition in just its second appearance in the AFC Champions League - its first being Persepolis’ fierce rival Esteghlal FC who bettered the team home and away in Group A in 2017.
