Al-Wahda begins its AFC Champions League campaign with a heavy-handed confrontation against Al-Ahly of Saudi Arabia, at 19:35 this evening, at Al-Nahyan Stadium in the opening of the first group matches of the competition.

The confrontation between the two teams is renewed 12 years after their last meeting in that tournament, which ended in a negative tie back and forth.

And the "Excellencies" confront the Saudi Al-Raqi with high spirits of successive victories in the local league, which jumped him to third place on the overall ranking in the competition schedule.

The unit appeared differently by the year 2020, during which the people of happiness only knew the language of victories, without the team being exposed to a loss or a draw in all the matches played in that stage of the year.

The credit for this is due to the winter transfer period, in which the club selected the best elements of the citizens and foreign players, who succeeded in returning the unit to the forefront after a faltering start in which the team retreated in terms of results and performance.

The unit enters the continental championship with great ambitions this time, as its fans aspire to repeat its beautiful memories with the AFC Champions League in 2007 when it reached the semi-finals, after a distinguished journey to be the most prominent achievement of the team in its history with the continental football event.

But the dreams of their Excellencies were stopped at the penultimate station, after losing the first-leg match against the Iranian Sepahan team 1-3, and its attempts to compensate in the second leg, which ended in a negative tie, failed to bid the competition through the big door.

With the fourth consecutive appearance in the Champions League, the conditions seem to reach the farthest point in the championship due to the presence of many distinguished players, led by veteran captain Ismail Matar, and striker Sebastian Tigali, who ranks as the top scorer in the Arab Gulf League scorer with 14 goals, and the international midfielder Khamis Ismail, and distinguished defender Fares Jumaa.

The unit participates in this edition of the AFC Champions League, after finishing third in the Arab Gulf League in the UAE with 46 points, ahead of the goal difference over Al Ain team, which secured him a direct seat in the competition.

Their Excellencies rely on the ideas of their Spanish coach, Manuel Jiménez, who, a few months after his appointment as successor to Dutchman Morris, succeeded in correcting the path, despite his criticism recently. Jiménez has undergone several training experiences, most notably with Spain's Las Palmas club and Greece's Ike Athena, which has earned him great experiences that the unit can count on in his continental participation this season. It may be a lot easier for Al-Wahda to face Al-Ahly, who will miss the efforts of his distinguished striker Omar Al-Soma, along with the Brazilian Joseph de Souza and Muhannad Asiri. Otherwise, he will not miss Al-Raqi due to the absence of any other player. Al-Ahly of Saudi Arabia, who had to go through the Asian supplement to reach the group stage, hopes to break the stubbornness of the Asian Championship, which eluded him on two occasions, when he reached the final in 1986 and 2012, but he lost on both occasions to Busan I Park and Ulsan Hyundai, the South Koreans. Al-Ahly will participate in the current version of the Champions League, after it finished fourth in the Saudi League last season with 55 points and 15 points behind the victory crowned by the title. Al-Raqi is counting on his continental participation on the experiences of his Swiss coach Christian Gross, who returned the team to the forefront of titles when he won the Saudi League 2015-2016, after he presented very impressive levels.

Omar Al-Soma is the most absent from the match, alongside Joseph and Muhannad Asiri.

Tigali, "the league's top scorer with 14 goals", the unit's weapon, to shake Al-Ahly's net.

Veteran Ismail Matar leads the unit in today's match.