Zlatko: Al Ain did not deserve to lose
Coach Zlatko Dalic insists Al Ain did not deserve to lose the first leg of the AFC Champions League final after going down 2-1 to Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors on Saturday.
The sides went in scoreless at the interval at Jeonju World Cup Stadium but Danilo Asprilla put the Emiratis in front on 63 minutes with a fine half-volley from the edge of the area.
The K League Classic outfit responded well, though, and Leonardo rocketed an unstoppable effort past Khalid Eisa in the 70th minute before the Brazilian’s penalty left Al Ain needing a win in front of their home fans in a week’s time.
“I can be happy with the performance of my players but not with the result,” said Dalic. “We played against a very strong team who had big support from their fans.
“I’m convinced we did not deserve to lose the game tonight, but I’m happy because I saw how disappointed my players were in the dressing room.
“When you lose 2-1 away from home you can be happy, but we are not happy. But we still have a chance at home to get a good result.”
The visitors arrived in Jeonju unbeaten in their last five away fixtures in the continental competition and put themselves in a strong position to make it six when Colombian Asprilla bagged his fourth of the campaign.
But the Koreans responded well and Leonardo’s two goals inside five minutes made it six home wins from seven in the 2016 AFC Champions League.
“We played a fantastic game against a very strong team,” added Croatian Dalic. “We played well tactically and closed everything down.
“When they went one down they changed to two strikers. They have great players like Leonardo who can do something one-on-one.
“We did everything that we had talked about in the team meeting, but it’s not easy to concentrate for the full game and we conceded a penalty.”
Dalic opted to leave top scorer Douglas on the bench, pushing Omar Abdulrahman further forward with Brazilian Caio and Asprilla on either side of him.
And, despite Choi Chul-soon shadowing Abdulrahman throughout, the Emirati was able to tee up the Colombian to open the scoring in the second half.
“We changed our tactics and played Omar in a different position,” explained Dalic. “Their number 25 marked him but he still created chances and set up our first goal.
“For the next game we will change our style again and play more offensively and attack more. It will not be easy. We must score so they will be dangerous on the counter-attack.”
