Al Shabab will be the first opponent for Mumbai City FC in their inaugural AFC campaign. The match will take place at Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium in Riyadh on Friday, April 8 at 10:45 pm (IST). Both teams are in Group B and will be eager to get their season off to a strong start.
Mumbai City FC was below their expectations in the ISL this season and finished at 5th place with just 31 points in 20 regular matches. A month ago, they played against Hyderabad FC in the Indian Super League and lost by a 1-2 scoreline. They missed out on fourth place narrowly to Kerala Blasters (34 points). With an early end to their season, Des Buckingham looked to prepare his players with a break and two-week training camp ahead of their AFC Champions League games.
Mumbai City FC will be anxious to demonstrate their potential; this will be a difficult assignment for them, but they will be determined to put up a good fight and achieve a favourable result.
Al-Shabab, on the other hand, is still in the Saudi Pro League and is still a long way from a direct berth in the ACL next year. Despite only having four losses this season, they have drawn eight times and appear to have lost a significant amount of ground.
In the semi-finals of the King Cup of Champions, the White Lions were defeated 2-1 by rivals Al-Hilal. As a result, head coach Marius Sumudica will try to position his team up to make the most of their AFC Champions League fixtures.
My Dream 11 Dream Team for MCFC vs SHB match:
Fawaz Al-Qarni (GK) ,Mourtada Fall, Iago Santos, Motel Al-Harbi, Ever Banega, Ahmed Jahouh, Alfred N’Diaye, Bradden Inman, Vinit Rai, Carlos Alberto-Junior(C), Igor Angulo (VC)
Mumbai City FC Probable Playing XI:
Phurba Lachenpa(GK), Amey Ranawade, Mandar Rao Dessai, Mehtab Singh, Mourtada Fall, Lalengmawia, Cassio Gabriel, Vinit Rai, Vikram Pratap Singh, Bipin-Singh Singh, Igor Angulo Alboniga
Al-Shabab Probable Playing 11:
Fawaz Al-Qarni (GK), Ahmed Sharahili, Abdullah Al-Shamekh, Fawaz Al-Sagour, Iago Santos, Ever Banega, Husain Al-Monassar, Hattan Bahebri, Nawaf Al-Abed, Carlos Alberto-Junior, Luciano Vietto
Squads:
Mumbai City FC Squad:
Phurba Lachenpa(GK), Amey Ranawade, Mandar Rao Dessai, Mehtab Singh, Mourtada Fall, Lalengmawia, Cassio Gabriel, Vinit Rai, Vikram Pratap Singh, Bipin-Singh Singh, Igor Angulo Alboniga, Rahul Bheke, Bradden Inman, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Mohammad Nawaz (GK), Vignesh Dakshinamurthy, Ahmed Jahouh, Mohamad Rakip, Raynier Fernandes, Ravi Kumar (GK), Rowllin Borges, Diego Mauricio, Valpuia, Vikram Lathbir Singh (GK), Gurkirat Singh, Mohammed Asif, Chanson Horam, Pranjal Bhumij, Tondomba Singh
Al-Shabab Squad:
Fawaz Al-Qarni(GK), Ahmed Sharahili, Abdullah Al-Shamekh, Fawaz Al-Sagour, Iago Santos, Ever Banega, Husain Al-Monassar, Hattan Bahebri, Nawaf Al-Abed, Carlos Alberto-Junior, Luciano Vietto, Moteb Al-Harbi, Paulo Lucas, Zaid Al-Bawardi(GK), Nawaf Al Dawsari, Mohammed Essa Harbush, John Mary, Nader Abdullah Al-Sharari, Abdullah Al-Huqi, Hussain Al-Sabiyani, Garza, Nasser Al-Omran, Hussain Shaian(GK), Mohammed Alabsi(GK), Abdullah Al-Joui, Fares Owais, Hassan Al-Tambekti, Turki Al-Ammar, Abdullah Saeed, Alfred N’Diaye, Saad Al-Muwalad, Nasser Al Bishi, Khalid Al-Ghamdi
