Al Hilal v Al Ain: Hernan Crespo urges players to embrace the pressure in ACL semi-final

Faced with one of the most important matches in Al Ain’s history, manager Hernan Crespo said his players must embrace the pressure and leave Tuesday’s Asian Champions League semi-final against Al Hilal in Riyadh with “no regrets”.

Al Ain, 2003 champions, are in pole position to reach the continental showpiece for the first time in eight years, with the UAE club 4-2 up from the first leg.

Soufiane Rahimi was the star man at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, scoring a first-half hat-trick – two of his goals were penalties – and winning a spot-kick for Al Ain’s fourth.

The victory, which snapped Hilal’s 34-match win streak, means Al Ain remain on track to emulate their celebrated side of 2003 – still the only Emirati team to lift the Champions League trophy.

However, Crespo insisted on Monday in Riyadh that Hilal, boasting the likes of Ruben Neves, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Kalidou Koulibaly and Malcom, are the favourites going into the second leg at Kingdom Arena.

“First of all, we are very proud to be here in this semi-final,” the Argentine said. “We need to play at a high level because we face a great opponent. Their numbers speak for themselves in terms of a lot of good and positive results all season.

“Then we understand that they are favourites of this leg. But we are here to do our best and try to do something special.”

Crespo, enjoying his first season in charge of the Garden City club, said he welcomed what is sure to be a vocal and vociferous support in the Saudi Arabian capital. The match is expected to be a sell-out, with Al Ain fans granted around six per cent of the 25,000-plus capacity.

“I hope the pressure of the [Hilal] fans is there,” Crespo said. “We live with this passion, and we want to face this experience, at a