End of Steel Khuzestan and Tractor Sazi Tabriz in the AFC Champions League

In the final round of the group stage of the AFC Champions League, Steel Khuzestan and Tractor Sazi Tabriz, who had no chance of advancing to the next round, faced their opponents in two ceremonial matches. Steel Khuzestan played against Lokomotiv Uzbekistan in Ahvaz, ending the match with a 1-0 victory for Steel. Tractor Sazi, on the other hand, lost 3-2 to Al Ahli in the UAE. In the low-key battle between Steel and Lokomotiv, Habibnejad's shot hit the post in the 88th minute. A minute later, Bahman Jahan-Tigh scored with a side-footed shot in a one-on-one situation. Thus, the Steel team achieved their first victory, earning three points to finish third in the group and exit the tournament. The Uzbek representative also finished fourth in this group. Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia and Al Sadd of Qatar were the teams that advanced from this group. In the Steel Khuzestan lineup were Ali Salimi, Leonardo Masaric, Ahmad Al Naemeh, Bahman Kamal, Omid Khaledi, Mehdi Badrlou, Chago, Sasan Ansari (Ahmadi), Ismail Sharifat, Mohsen Muslim, and Alois Nang (Habibnejad). Dragan Skocic's players had not won in their previous five matches and were tied until the last minute in their final game, but they finally tasted victory. After his team's win, Dragan Skocic said, 'I am not satisfied with my players' performance in the first half, but in the second half, with confidence in the youth, we managed to win. These young players will be the future of Steel Khuzestan. I am never afraid of having young players in the starting lineup.' In the match between Al Ahli of the UAE and Tractor Sazi Tabriz, Mehrdad Bayrami scored the first goal of the game in the 20th minute, allowing his team to go into halftime with a lead. Al Ahli needed to score to advance to the next round, and they equalized in the second half. However, that was not the end, as Tractor Sazi took the lead again, this time with a goal from Saman Nariman-Jahan. If this result had held, Nasaf Qarshi of Uzbekistan would have advanced, but Tony Oliveira's players could not protect their lead, and Al Ahli scored two more goals to advance. The Tractor Sazi lineup included Eisa Andoi, Shahryar Shirvand (Gharishi), Khaled Shafiei, Mirhani Hashemi, Mohammad Iranpourian, Ahmad Kamdar, Shahin Saghbi, Pour Rahmatollah, Mehrdad Bayrami (Mohsen Delir), Farid Karimi, and Saman Nariman Jahan. In another match of this group, Al Ahli of Saudi Arabia and Nasaf Qarshi ended in a goalless draw, allowing both teams named Al Ahli from the UAE and Saudi Arabia to advance. In the continuation of these competitions, on Wednesday, Persepolis and Naft Tehran will face Bunyodkor of Uzbekistan and Al Ain of the UAE for a chance to advance.