AFC Champions League Elite - Rampant Al Nassr please Postecoglou

Tashkent: Ange Postecoglou was in no doubt that Al Nassr Club richly deserved victory against Pakhtakor in what could have been a tricky AFC Champions League Elite 2026/27™ clash on Monday.

With their opponents having already taken draws from Al Qadsiah Club and Al Ahli Saudi FC, the Australian tactician was delighted to see his side not fall into the same trap, with Al Nassr roaring to a 6-2 win despite Cristiano Ronaldo’s absence.

#ACLElite | Pakhtakor (UZB) 2-6 Al Nassr Club (KSA)

“Pleased with the players,” said Postecoglou. “It was a good performance and we scored six goals. We said before the game that it was going to be a difficult challenge but the boys handled it well and fully deserved the win.

“Cris played the last game and we scored five goals. The players today performed at a very high level because we know Pakhtakor did very well against other Saudi teams. Our attacking play in general was very good and if Cris was here, it would have been very good too.”

Quickfire goals from Abdullah Al Hamddan and Joao Felix sent Al Nassr on their way after 17 minutes with the Portuguese forward scoring another with strikes from Abdulelah Al Amri, Abdulrahman Ghareeb and Angelo securing a second win for the Saudi Arabian champions.

The inability to settle quickly after conceding two goals in two minutes was seen by Emilian Caras as the reason why his Pakhtakor side was unable to get a result.

“I think the final score did not match how the game was played,” said Caras. “It is true that we conceded six goals, but we could have scored more goals ourselves.

“Against such strong opponents, it was necessary to play more organised, compactly and not leave empty spaces. But we gave Joao Felix and other players too much freedom."

“Two quick goals conceded in the space of 1-2 minutes ruined all our plans. At 0-2, you have to open up even more, which is a very difficult blow psychologically.

"Even if we had conceded one goal, we could have continued according to the plan, controlling the situation. But the second goal changed everything.”

Rampant Al Nassr please Postecoglou

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