AFC Champions League: Atal scores as Al Sadd advance; Mané and Al Nassr dominate
- Andrew Olsson
- Mar 10
- 2 min read
Two teams booked their places in the quarterfinals of Asia's AFC Champions League on Monday with Algeria right back Youcef Atal and Senegalese superstar Sadio Mané both advancing.
Qatar's Al Sadd SC advanced past Emirati club Al Wasl by a 4-2 aggregate score after Monday's 3-1 second leg victory in Doha. Fabio Lima put the visitors ahead inside ten minutes but a furious first half saw Al Sadd score three goals in eleven minutes.
After Mostafa Meshaal tied the match up in the 26th minute, four minutes later Atal drove in from the right wing and found a way to score from a tight angle. Al Sadd never looked back with Akram Afif adding another before halftime. Since joining from Turkish side Adana Demirspor in September, former Nice defender Atal has 1 goal and 3 assists in 12 matches for Al Sadd.
In Riyadh, Saudi giants Al Nassr had an easy time with Iranian club Esteghlal. Big money signing Jhon Duran scored twice and Cristiano Ronaldo added a penalty kick in a 3-0 victory after the teams played to a 0-0 first leg draw in Iran.
Mané played the entire first leg and was active during Nassr's dominant second leg performance before being substituted in the 78th minute. The former Liverpool and Bayern Munich attacker now has 8 goals and 8 assists in 35 matches this season in all competitions.