DOHA (Qatar): Al Rayyan take on Iran’s Esteghlal in the 2020 AFC Champions League play-off at the Al Sadd Stadium here on Tuesday.
The teams will battle for a berth in the group stage.
Qatar’s Al Sadd and Al Duhail, top two teams in 2018-19 Qatar Stars League, had qualified directly for the group stage of Asia’s premier club competition.
Al Sailiya and Rayyan, the third and fourth-placed teams, went into play-off to be eligible to make it to the tournament proper.
Esteghlal qualified to play Rayyan after they defeated Kuwait SC 3-0 in Dubai in the preliminary round on Saturday.
The winners of the Al Rayyan vs Esteghlal match will join Group A, which includes the UAE’s Al Wahda, Iraq’s Al Shorta and the winners of another play-off between Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli and Tajikistan’s FC Istiklol on January 28.
Rayyan have had a bad run of late as they lost 1-4 to Al Sadd in the 2020 Qatar Cup semifinal and 2-4 to Al Gharafa in Week 13 of the QNB Stars League on 23rd January.
Uruguayan Diego Aguirre-coached Al Rayyan have in their ranks players, who can make a difference, such as Algerian Yacine Brahimi, new Ivorian professional Yohan Boli, South Korean Lee Jae-Ik, Cameroonian Franck Kom, Rodrigo Tabata, Abdulaziz Hatem, Khaled Muftah and Ahmed Abdelmaksoud.
The kick-off is at 18:15 .
