Al-Hilal lost 1-0 in Uzbekistan to Pahktakor on Tuesday in the first leg of their AFC Champions League Elite round-of-16 clash. Meanwhile, Saudi Pro League rivals Al-Ahli showed them how it should be done with an impressive victory over Qatari side Al-Rayyan.
A first-half goal was enough to give Pahktakor the advantage going into next week’s return leg, and the Riyadh club will have to improve if they hope to progress to the quarter-finals.
The four-time winners, beset by injuries, traveled to a freezing Tashkent in poor form, by their own high standards, with just one win in their past five league games. As a result, the Blues have slipped six points behind Pro League leaders Al-Ittihad, making success in Asia even more important.
Yet they never really got going in the first half and, despite finishing the group stage 14 points clear of their opponents, who won just one game out of eight, they were second-best from the start.
Coach Jorge Jesus will be particularly displeased about the goal, conceded just before the half-hour mark, which made this game the eighth out of the past 10 in which his players have failed to keep a clean sheet.
Brayan Riascos sent over a bouncing cross from the right and while it was a dangerous cross, there were three men in blue in place to deal with it. Instead, Brazilian forward Flamarion was able to get in front of the defenders and steer the ball home from just outside the six-yard box. The surprise was not that the Uzbeks had taken the lead but that it had taken so long for it to happen.
The second half began better for the visitors and they started to create chances. Just after the hour mark, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic headed over from close range when Moteb Al-Harbi found him with a cross. Abdullah Al-Hamdan came close to leveling for Al-Hilal but, overall, Pakhtakor deserved the victory and their advantage at the midway point of the tie.
There was better news for Saudi fans in Qatar, as Al-Ahli recorded a 3-1 victory over Al-Rayyan. Galeno grabbed the first for the visitors on the half-hour and Riyad Mahrez added a second just four minutes later. Both goals were created by Roberto Firmino.
The Jeddah side appeared to be taking a huge step towards the last eight but there were still some nerves on display when Roger Guedes fired the ball into the top corner of the net from the edge of the area to cut the deficit in half.
Firmino came close twice before Gabri Veiga appeared to have restored the two-goal advantage, with eight minutes remaining, only for the video assistant referee to intervene and rule the goal out for offside.
Deep into added time, however, Firas Al-Buraikan scored from close range to seal the win and give Al-Ahli a great chance to progress in the competition next week.
