Qatar- ACL: Al Rayyan seek maiden win in Goa

(MENAFN - The Peninsula) AFC | The Peninsula Qatar's Al Rayyan and hosts FC Goa both will seek their first win in the 2021 AFC Champions League when they square off in a Group E encounter at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium today. Al Rayyan who are falling short in their bid to advance to the Round of 16 at the 10th time of trying, began their 2021 AFC Champions League campaign with a goalless draw against the Goan side before going down 3-1 against Iran's Persepolis. The Laurent Blanc-coached men then lost back-to-back to UAE's Al Wahda (3-2, 1-0) to suffer early elimination. Blanc's side sits bottom of the standings but the Frenchman is adamant that their position doesn't do justice to their quality and with the likes of Yacine Brahimi, Yohan Boli and Shojae Khalilzadeh in his squad, he will expect three points against FC Goa. 'Yes it's true we are out of the competition but we're still not finished here, said Blanc. 'We will be motivated to perform our best against FC Goa tomorrow, not only for this club but also for Qatar, he said yesterday. 'We need to win and although we have not performed to expectations, we will strive to get the result. It will be a difficult game against FC Goa because they are very organised. We have two suspensions and some injuries and I believe Goa have the same problem in terms of injuries. We need new players, young players to fill in the positions but I hope they will bring a huge morale boost to the team as we must win," the Frenchman said. 'If we had converted our chances (in previous matches) and had a little more experience, we could have had at least seven or eight points. It is important to finish the competition on a positive note, Blanc said.MENAFN26042021000063011010ID1101983264