(MENAFN - Gulf Times) Al Gharafa will aim to steal hosts Al Jazira's thunder when they clash in their opening Group A AFC Champions League match at the Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi today.
Al Gharafa are the first Qatari team to travel to the Emirates since the illegal siege on Qatar was imposed by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Eygpt in June, but coach Bulent Uygun said he was only concerned about the match and not the circumstances around it.
'We will be playing a strong Al Jazira team on their home ground but for us it is like any other match. We are not looking at it as though it is something out of the ordinary, he said.
Al Gharafa reached Abu Dhabi on Saturday after spending several hours at the Muscat International Airport due to bad weather in the UAE capital.
The delay forced the team to skip a training session on Saturday, but Uygun said that was not a major issue.
'We are well prepared for the match and are keen to do well against the UAE champions. We have the ability to beat any team on our day.
Al Gharafa are returning to the lucrative Asian tournament for the first time since 2013 and their best performance was a quarter-final showing in 2010 in a campaign that saw home and away victories over Al Jazira in the group stage.
The Abu Dhabi club have failed to win a game in their past two continental campaigns in 2016 and 2017 with nine defeats and three draws a poor return from 12 games. Their last victory in the competition, back in 2014, was against Qatari opposition in the form of Al Rayyan.
The Doha side have attracted plenty headlines ahead of this season's competition with the arrival of Dutchman Wesley Sneijder, while the acquisition of Iranian frontman Mehdi Taremi could prove a masterstroke after his superb performance's in Persepolis's march to the semi-finals last year.
Al Jazira coach Henk Ten Cate said his side were confident of putting on a fine show.
'I am very confident because the team is in good shape. The boys are ready, he said.
'It is the first game in the series and it is always important. A win will mean a lot for us but the same goes for Al Gharafa too. I hope it will be a nice game.

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