Shabab Alahli lost their first match in the AFC Champions League group stage, against the host, Pakhtakor of Uzbekistan,The match was held in cold and rainy weather in the central Pakhtakor stadium and in the presence of about 10 thousand supporters.
Pakhtakor took the lead in the first half, and Pedro Conde equalized in the second half, before the home side scored the winning goal.
Shabab Alahli started the match with a lineup that included: Majed Nasser, Mohammad Murzouq, Mohammad Sabeel, Abdelaziz Haikal, Yousef Jaber, Abdullah Alnaqbi, Majed Hassan, Federico Cartabia, Aziz Janiev, Ismail Al Hammadi and Pedro Conde.
In the second half, Ahmed Khalil, Eid Khamis, and Harib Abdullah replaced, Ismail Al Hammadi, Pedro Conde and Majid Hassan.
Speaking at the post match press conference, Shabab Alahli haed coach Rodolfo Arruebarrena indicated that the match was different from that he imagined due to the weather and the field which was full of water.
Rodolfo admitted that his team made a mistake in the first half, and Pakhtakor scored their first goal, pointing out that Shabab Alahli was the better side in the second half, creating many chances and scoring the equalizer.
He added: “ after conceding the second goal we tried to come back, we have some chances, but we failed to find the back of the net”.