TEHRAN – Persepolis football team coach Yahya Golmohammadi says that they want to advance to the 2021 AFC Champions League Round of 16 as the winners.

The Iranian giants are scheduled to meet Al Rayyan of Qatar on Thursday in final matchday of Group E.

Persepolis have accumulated 12 points so far and will qualify for the next stage as the winners with a draw.

“First of all, I would like to thank my players who fought hard in this difficult situation. I’m proud of them,” Golmohammadi said in the pre-match news conference.  

“We have to show our quality against Al Rayyan. I think Al Rayyan could be the favorites in Group E but they were not lucky. We will play them with all our might tomorrow,” he added.

Persepolis failed to record their fifth successive win in the match against Al Wahda. However, Golmohammadi says that they didn’t deserve to lose against the Emirati team.

“We started bad and conceded a goal in the 5th minute. Afterward, we played well and created so many chances but our players failed to capitalize on their chances. Al Wahda also defended well.

“We have to find our weaknesses. The loss against Al Wahda could help us to find our problem. We have learned from this defeat,” Golmohammadi concluded.