Despite going one down within the first 10 minutes, goals from Andre Carrillo, Salem Al Dawsari and Sebastian Giovinco helped Al Hilal claim the victory which sent them through to the last four of the competition for the fifth time in the club’s history.
“The match was exceptional in terms of the result and the performance that we had,” said the Romanian coach.
“We created many scoring chances tonight and had a great physical performance.”
Quarter-final - 2nd Leg: Al Hilal SFC vs Al Ittihad
The 50-year-old coach also admitted that his side had been made to work extremely hard in order to get the result which has set up a last four meeting with Qatari powerhouse and 2011 AFC Champions League title winners Al Sadd SC.
“Al Ittihad are a team who play attacking football and they are capable of scoring at any time,” he explained.
“We had this in mind and that’s why we tried to put them under pressure.
“We had a slow start in the match and lost control,” added Lucescu. “However, we managed to regain possession and scored the equaliser at the best possible moment."
Al Hilal will face Al Sadd in Doha on October 1 and in Riyadh three weeks later.
Photo: AFP