A very high-quality playoff match in Asian Champions league to complete the group stage will take place between the second-placed team of Saudi Arabia and the first-placed team of the UAE at the King Saud University Stadiu. Big transfers of players to the countries of the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia, at the same time strengthened the AFC Champions League, the strongest club competition on the territory of Asia. Back-to-back semi-finals in the AFC Champions League 2020 and 2021 meant Al Nassr were getting ever closer to getting their hands on their first-ever title in the competition, and after missing out on the 2022 edition, the Riyadh based club hope to return and mount yet another title challenge, this time armed with a collection of superstars spearheaded by Ronaldo and Sadio Mane. They were beaten 0-2 at home in their last outing in their domestic league. On the other hand, Al Ahli Dubai have started their new league campaign with an opening day 0-3 victory over Ajman Club in their last time out. Finalists in 2015, Shabab Al Ahli’s best performance in the years since has been reaching the Round of 16 on three occasions. For this encounter, with an handicap of +2.5, I am expecting a win for the away side for the following reasons:

Firstly. The Cristiano Ronaldo-powered Al Nassr have struggled to click and can expect another tough test against a Shabab Al Ahli side oozing confidence after two huge wins the past week. Al Nassr will have to bounce back from two consecutive opening defeats in the 2023/24 Saudi Pro League when they face UAE's Shabab Al Ahli Dubai in the AFC Champions League Playoffs. They started the season on the wrong foot with defeats to Al Ettifaq and Al Taawoun on the domestic front and head coach Luis Castro has to get the 2022/23 Saudi Pro League runners-up in top gear if they are to get anything out of this game.

Secondly. Shabab Al Ahli, on the other hand, have started the season from where they left off last year. The reigning UAE titleholders defeated Jordan’s Al Wehdat 3-0 in their AFC Champions League 2023/24 preliminary round tie and followed that up with an emphatic 3-0 victory against Ajman in their UAE Pro League season opener. They are now unbeaten in their last six games, winning the last four while scoring a total of nine goals and conceding only once. Compared to start-studded Al Nassr, they also have players who can make a difference, such as Dabbur in the attack or Mateusao and Milivojevic in the midfield.

Al Nassr have been playing with money in the previous years, and have brought in Cristiano Ronaldo, Mane, Brozovic, and others. They do have the quality over their opponents. But they are struggling to gel and click at the moment. Shabab Al Ahli do have a good attack to mount some pressure on Nassr, and I expect them to get a win here with an handicap of +2.5.

在沙特国王大学体育场举行的亚洲冠军联赛(亚冠)小组赛中，第二名的沙特阿拉伯队和第一名的阿联酋队将进行一场高质量的附加赛。大量球员转会到中东国家，特别是沙特阿拉伯，同时加强了亚足联冠军联赛，这是亚洲地区最强大的俱乐部比赛。在2020年和2021年的亚足联冠军联赛中，背靠背的半决赛意味着阿尔·纳斯尔越来越接近获得他们在比赛中的第一个冠军，在错过了2022年的比赛之后，总部位于利雅得的俱乐部希望回归并发起另一个冠军挑战，这次以c罗和萨迪奥·马内为首的超级巨星们武装起来。在国内联赛的最后一场比赛中，他们在主场被0-2击败。另一方面，迪拜阿赫利队在最后一场比赛中以0-3战胜阿吉曼俱乐部，开始了他们新的联赛。在2015年的决赛中，青年党的最佳表现是三次进入16强。对于这场胜率为+2.5的比赛，我预计客队会赢，原因如下:

首先。c罗领衔的纳赛尔队一直在努力发挥，在上周取得两场大胜后，他们将面临另一场艰难的考验，对手是阿尔阿赫利青年党。在2023/24赛季沙特职业联赛的首场比赛中，纳赛尔队将在亚冠联赛季后赛中面对阿联酋的阿尔阿赫利迪拜队，他们将不得不从连续两场失利中恢复过来。他们本赛季开局不利，在国内比赛中输给了Al Ettifaq和Al Taawoun，主教练路易斯·卡斯特罗必须让2022/23赛季的沙特职业联赛亚军进入最佳状态，如果他们想从这场比赛中有所收获的话。

其次。另一方面，阿尔阿赫利青年党(Shabab Al Ahli)从去年停止的地方开始了新一季。阿联酋卫冕冠军在2023/24赛季亚冠联赛预选赛中以3-0击败约旦的阿尔·侯赛因，随后在阿联酋职业联赛赛季揭幕战中以3-0大胜阿吉曼。他们在最近的六场比赛中保持不败，赢得了最近四场比赛，总共进了9球，只丢了1球。与首发阵容众多的纳赛尔相比，他们也有一些可以发挥作用的球员，比如进攻端的达布尔，中场的马特乌索和米利沃耶维奇。

前几年纳赛尔一直在花钱，引进了c罗、马内、布罗佐维奇等人。他们确实比对手有实力。但目前，他们还在努力做到和谐相处。Shabab Al Ahli确实有很好的进攻对Nassr施加一些压力，我希望他们在+2.5的不利条件下赢得一场胜利。