It's in Al Ain's hands - Koch

AFC - Esteghlal coach Roland Koch has conceded that the sole spot in the AFC Champions League semi-finals is firmly within the grasp of Group C hosts Al Ain.

"When a team wins their first two games and has six points, while two others have three with one game left to play it is normal to assume that they have the best chance, so therefore, Al Ain have the group in their hand.

The German, who has coached at Bayer Leverkusen and Besiktas, carried an agitated demeanor at the press conference following Wednesday's 3-2 loss to Al Hilal, expressing his annoyance at the basic mistake that led to the Saudis second goal.

"We lost concentration at the corner kick and that simply is bad football, said koch. "We started the game well and scored two very good goals but we missed a good chance to get the third.

"I also felt the referee made a lot of mistakes as there were too many free-kicks in front of our goal. That's my opinion but everybody will have their own point of view."

Esteghlal face Ain at the Al Qattara Stadium on Saturday needing nothing less than a win.