Al Nassr, the Saudi club, faces an unprecedented challenge as it welcomes its Emirati counterpart Al Ain tonight, Monday, in the AFC Champions League. Al Nassr will host Al Ain at "Al Awal Park" in Riyadh for the second leg of the quarter-finals. The first leg ended with Al Ain defeating Al Nassr by a goal scored by Moroccan player Sofiane Rahimi. This is the first time in history that "the global" team enters a knockout match in the AFC Champions League while trailing in the scoreline.
This marks Al Nassr's fourth participation in a two-legged knockout round of the continental tournament, but they have never encountered this situation in the previous three times. The first occasion Al Nassr played in a two-legged knockout round was in the Round of 16 in the 2019 edition, where they drew 1-1 at home against Emirati team Al Wahda, before winning 3-2 in the return leg. In the quarter-finals of the same edition, Al Nassr secured a valuable 2-1 victory over Qatari team Al Sadd in the first leg, but lost 1-3 away in the second leg, which led them to exit the tournament. The third instance was in the Round of 16 of the current tournament, where "the global" won 1-0 away against Al Feiha in the first leg, then repeated the victory 2-0 at home, advancing to the quarter-finals.
