The French coach Laurent Blanc took ten foreign players with him in the team’s delegation that departed today, Sunday, to the UAE, in preparation for the match against Al Wahda in the opening of the AFC Champions League for the elite.

The match will take place tomorrow, Monday, at Al Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi, as part of the first round of the group stage, where the Union aims for a strong start in the continental tournament.

The list of foreign players includes: Serbian Predrag Rajkovic, Portuguese Danilo Pereira, Albanian Mario Mitaj, Brazilian Fabinho Tavares, Malian Mohamedou Doumbia, Portuguese Roger Fernandes, French Moussa Diaby, Algerian Houssem Aouar, Dutch Steven Bergwijn, and Serbian Jan Carlo Simic.

On the other hand, the list saw the absence of French star Karim Benzema due to suffering from a hamstring injury, while his compatriot N'Golo Kante remains absent after being suspended due to the red card he received against Al Hilal in the quarter-finals of the last edition.

Blanc also excluded international player Hassan Kadsh for lack of physical readiness, while Abdulaziz Al-Bishi was ruled out due to a toe injury, which reduced the coach's options in the final list.

With this formation, the Union places its trust in its prominent foreign elements to compensate for the significant absences, hoping to achieve an ideal start that gives it a strong boost in the Asian championship competitions.