"We faced a high quality team that were better than us individually, as could be seen from their passing and movements,” said Milojevic.

"However, I think my players did a good job as we played as a unit. Unfortunately, we made many bad decisions in the final third of the pitch.

"I think the 1-1 draw is a fair result and for now, my focus will be entirely on the next match in the local league.”

Al Wasl were the more dominant side over the course of the 90 minutes with Al Rayyan goalkeeper Paulo Vitor pulling off a string of saves to frustrate the UAE Pro League side.

The breakthrough eventually arrived in the 76th minute through Caio Canedo but Al Rayyan fought back to equalise nine minutes later via Salem Al Azeezi’s own goal with Ali confident his Qatari outfit will go through.

"The match was between two strong teams and I think the fans enjoyed the overall level of the match. A draw is probably the fairest result,” said Ali.

"Our goalkeeper Paulo Victor succeeded in stopping many attempts, contributing to the result that the match ended with, and for me he was the man of the match.

"It keeps our chances alive to qualify for the last 16, we have two decisive matches left to play.”

The point gained took Al Wasl to 11 points with Al Rayyan five behind."