Red Knights confident after making AFC Champions League semis

Dubai - In the first AGL outing for 2015-16, the Red Knights (Al Ahli) hammered Fujairah (8-1), another outfit unaccustomed to the pressures and intensity levels expected of the UAE's premier league.

Dubai powerhouse Al Ahli go into their second Arabian Gulf League (AGL) fixture at home on Monday night against minnows Al Dhafra in high spirits, after creating history by storming into the semifinal of the AFC Champions League (AFCCL) with a 3-1 aggregate over Naft Tehran last week.
In the first AGL outing for 2015-16, the Red Knights (Al Ahli) hammered Fujairah (8-1), another outfit unaccustomed to the pressures and intensity levels expected of the UAE's premier league.
Dhafra have played two matches where they lost in identical 1-3 fashion to Al Ain in the opener, and later against Al Nasr.
With the humidity levels reducing to a great extent the last few days, the players will be able to absorb the summer conditions a little more.
The coaches, too, will have less room to complain regarding this since the start of the league, and will now have to get on with the more serious aspect of producing tighter midfield play to make an impression this season in the League.
The red shirts have a sound defence as was evident from the form shown in the early phase of the season with Dida showing a safe pair of hands under the cross piece.
Against the Tehran side in both the legs of the AFCCL quarters, he parried and neutralised several stingers to keep his side in business. Brilliant Rodrigo Lima can be devastating while creating openings and also when he uses his deft skills to score effortlessly.
Everton Ribeiro was inspirational against Fujairah and Naft, something the Dhafra men will do well if they can apply brakes on his weaving movements when chalking out a gameplan to curtail the Reds.
Defenders Ahmed Ibrahim Khaleel and Abdulla Alali have served Dhafra well but it will be impossible for them to turn away the continuous tides of a side as skilled as the Reds. Abdulraheem Juma and Makhete Diop have the energy and resources to trouble the Ahli fortress but they depend on the stray through passes most of the time. They need a lot more of feeding on the carpet rather than wait for the long lobs.
Al Dhafra goalkeeper Abdulla Sultan has been sturdy but again the last line of defence cannot stop the onslaughts continuously for a full 90 minutes.