Al-Sadd head coach Roberto Mancini praised his team’s performance following their victory over Saudi side Al-Hilal and qualification to the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League Elite 2025–2026.
In his post-match remarks, Mancini emphasised that Al-Hilal are among the best teams in Asia, noting that the match was extremely difficult throughout both regular and extra time.
He said: “That’s football. We managed to secure the win and advance to the next stage after a marathon match full of challenges.”
The Al-Sadd coach added that the team will focus in the coming period on preparing the players physically, especially after the great effort they exerted, explaining: “We will focus on recovery ahead of the next match, particularly since we did not make any substitutions over the full 120 minutes.”
