"The players put on a fantastic and strong performance, and I congratulate them on this result. Beating Al Hilal was difficult because we were playing against what is considered the strongest team in Asia," said Italian tactician Mancini.

"In this tournament, there are strong and high-level teams like Al Hilal, Al Ahli (Saudi FC) and Al Ittihad (Club) and they are all striving to win this title. We, however, are also a good team and we play good football, and we will see what happens in the end."

While Al Sadd can look forward to a quarter-final against Japan's Vissel Kobe on Thursday, Al Hilal's dreams of yet another continental title were dashed with head coach Simone Inzaghi admitting his disappointment that they were unable to see out the tie despite dominating.

"We all saw how the match unfolded, and we apologise to the Al Hilal fans for our loss. We knew what was important for us, but luck wasn't on our side," said Inzaghi.

"The team played with commitment, tried everything and scored three goals. We also had many opportunities to take the lead - both in regulation time and extra time - but the opposing team was resolute."

The Italian tactician vowed that Al Hilal would bounce back from the disappointment.

"Considering the number of chances we had, we deserved to qualify for the quarter-finals. We need time to overcome this loss, but in football, you have to have targets and now we must focus on achieving our next objectives.

"We still have two competitions to play for - the King's Cup, where we have reached the final, and the league, where we still have six matches remaining. Despite this, we are disappointed to have been eliminated from the AFC Champions League."