This Tuesday, Jorge Jesus’ Al-Hilal, despite beating Al-Ain, ended up being eliminated from the Asian Champions League, as in the first leg they were defeated 4-2.
Thus, after the fall in the competition, the Portuguese coach pointed out a clear unmarked penalty, in addition to stating that there was no lack of effort to reach the final, both on the part of the players and the fans.
“The fans pushed us to victory throughout the game and the players also did everything they could to reach the final. There was also a clear penalty, VAR should have called the referee to see Sherani’s ball that was going to Sergej. We did everything to be in the final, we had many opportunities to score”, said Jorge Jesus.
The commander also explained about having placed striker Malcom as a false full-back.
“I took Sharani out because I thought it was time to risk everything. Malcom, as a false full-back, even left a pass for Kanno, who lost face to face with the goalkeeper. We needed to have strength in the area, I thought Kanno could give us that power, hence the total risk of using Malcom as a false full-back. If Kanno had scored the goal, they would say I had scored,” he said.
The defeat in the first leg, which prevented Jorge Jesus’ team from advancing, still broke the longest winning streak (34) by a team in the history of football.
Finally, the coach turned the key to the game against Al Fateh in the Saudi Championship, and stated that they are very close to becoming champions of the competition.
“We were eliminated in the Champions League, but we are very close to winning the Saudi League.”
In the championship, the team is in first place, with 77 points, nine points ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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