Al-Hilal won the first leg against Al-Ittihad with two clean goals (Getty)

Al-Hilal Saudi Arabia will host its compatriot Al-Ittihad - Tuesday - at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in the second leg of the AFC Champions League quarter-finals.

Al-Hilal, coming from 27 consecutive victories in all competitions - including 16 in the league, which it leads by 12 points from Al-Nasr - appears to be a candidate to overcome the obstacle of its compatriot Al-Ittihad after defeating them in the first leg with two clean goals scored by Serbian Alexander Mitrovic and Salem Al-Dosari.

AFC Champions League quarter-final matches schedule

Realizing the difficulty of the task against Al Hilal, Argentine coach Marcelo Gallardo decided to rest his stars during the 2-1 victory over Al-Akhdood in the last match in the local league.

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The press conference accompanying the #Al-Ittihad_Al-Hilal match in the second leg of the Asian quarter-finals 🎙️ pic.twitter.com/EkERtpEhAX

- Al-Ittihad Saudi Club (@ittihad) March 11, 2024

Gallardo preferred to rest Moroccan Abdel Razzaq Hamdallah and Brazilian Fabinho, and kept Egyptian Ahmed Hegazy and Brazilian Romarinho on the bench.

Gallardo will field all the team's stars, including Frenchman Karim Benzema, who missed the first leg and before that in the 1-3 loss to Al Hilal on the first of this month in the 22nd round of the league due to injury.

On the other hand, his compatriot N'Golo Kante will be absent after receiving a red card during the first leg following his violent intervention on Senegalese Khalidou Koulibaly.

Al-Hilal is complete in front of Al-Ittihad

On the other hand, Al Hilal enters the match with full ranks, as Salem Al Dosari is prepared to participate in the starting lineup alongside the attacking duo Mitrovic and Brazilian Malcolm Oliveira.

Portuguese coach Jorge Jesus is inclined to keep Mohamed Al Owais in goalkeeping at the expense of Moroccan Yassine Bounou in order to benefit from 5 foreign field players on the field.

🗣️ “Jesus”: “We brought all the foreign players to Jeddah, since we will go through the last training this evening and we will determine who will participate.” #Al Hilal pic.twitter.com/CEINPBPvcV

- Al Hilal Saudi Club (@Alhilal_FC) March 11, 2024

Jesus said that Al Hilal "always shows that it is the best and most prepared team, and the series of victories is our second goal. If it is achieved, it will remain in history for us and the players, but it is not a championship. The championships are the league, the cup, and the AFC Champions League, but the longer the series of victories, the closer we are to the goal."

Al Hilal will be on a date with history if it achieves victory on Tuesday, as it will become the owner of the longest winning streak in history after last Friday against Riyadh (3-1 in the league), it equaled the record recorded by the Welsh New Saints since the 2016-2017 season when it broke a record it achieved. Dutch Ajax (26 consecutive victories) between 1971 and 1972.

The date of the Al Hilal and Al-Ittihad match in the Asian Champions League quarter-finals

The Al Hilal and Al-Ittihad match will be held on Tuesday, March 12, at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, and will start at (22:00 Mecca time) (23:00 UAE time).

Channels broadcasting the Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad match in the second leg of the quarter-finals

The Al Hilal and Al Nassr match can be watched on:

  • beIN Sports AFC group of Qatari channels.

  • Saudi SSC channels (SSC1 HD).

  • Abu Dhabi Sports Channels inside the Emirates (Abu Dhabi Sports Asia 1).

  • Al Kass Sports Channels inside Qatar (Al Kass Nine HD).

Source: Al Jazeera + agencies