AFC Champions League; Victory for Esteghlal Khuzestan and Defeat for Esteghlal Tehran

One victory and one defeat were the results of the first match for two representatives of Iranian football in the 2017 AFC Champions League season. Esteghlal Khuzestan defeated Al-Fateh of Saudi Arabia 1-0, while their Tehran counterpart lost 2-1 to Al-Ahli in the UAE. With this defeat, Esteghlal Tehran experienced its third opening loss in the history of the Champions League. In this match, Al-Ahli managed to secure all three points thanks to the brilliance of their expensive stars, Diop and Ribeiro. The match, held in the first group of the Champions League, was officiated by Peter Green, and the Iranian blue-clad team lost a point they had earned in the last minute of the regular time. The lineup for Esteghlal included Mehdi Rahmati, Robson Janoario, Leandro Padovani, Khosrow Heydari (Majid Hosseini), Milad Zakipour, Omid Ebrahimi, Omid Noorafkan, Farshid Esmaeili, Behnam Barzay (Voria Ghafouri), Ali Ghorbani, and Kaveh Rezaei. In the 44th minute, Zakipour's mistake in clearing the ball put Diop in an excellent position, allowing him to put his team ahead in the first half. In the 74th minute, Khosrow Heydari's cross passed over Kaveh Rezaei's head and reached Omid Ebrahimi, who scored the equalizer. In the 90th minute, Diop managed to score his team's second goal due to a miscalculation by Mehdi Rahmati, securing all three points for the host team. After the match, Alireza Mansourian stated, "We had completely analyzed them and knew where they would strike. We played less experienced today. We should have acted more professionally on the second goal. Everything depends on the match against Al-Taawoun; if we take the three points, we will have the best chance of advancing." Before this match, Esteghlal Khuzestan had successfully defeated Al-Fateh of Saudi Arabia 1-0 in Oman. The players of Esteghlal Khuzestan included Vahid Sheikh Visi, Mohammad Teybi, Abolfazl Alai, Danial Mahini, Peyman Shirzadi, Farshad Salarvand, Mehdi Momeni (Mostafa Mahi), Ali Asghar Ashouri, Hassan Beit Saeed, Alois Nang (Zabidi), and Arash Afshin (Salman Bahrani). A corner kick by Peyman Shirzadi to the second post was converted into a three-point goal by the advancing defender Abolfazl Alai. Siros Pourmousavi stated in the press conference, "This great victory, which has brought national pride, is dedicated to the people of Iran, especially the oppressed Khuzestanis and the workers of the National Group Company." The head coach of Esteghlal Khuzestan reminded, "Al-Fateh is a very good team and was more experienced internationally than us, as they had previously participated in Asian competitions, but they had no choice but to lose against the determination of our players." Abolfazl Alai said about his goal, "I dedicate this goal to the people of Khuzestan who are going through difficult times. The people of Khuzestan have been oppressed, and dedicating our victory to them was the only thing we could do. On Tuesday, in the continuation of the matches, Persepolis will face Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia in Oman, and Zob Ahan Isfahan will also visit Al-Ain of the UAE. In these grounds, Esteghlal advanced to the group stage of the AFC Champions League with a victory over Al-Sadd of Qatar.