The Portuguese coach Paulo Sousa, who leads the UAE's Shabab Al Ahli team, affirmed that facing Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal represents a tough challenge for his team in the AFC Champions League elite competition, due to the strength of the opponent and its extensive experience both locally and continentally.

Shabab Al Ahli will host Al Hilal on Monday evening at Al Rashid Stadium as part of the seventh round of the West Group competitions in the AFC Champions League for the elite. It is an anticipated match in which both teams aim to achieve a positive result.

Souza said during the pre-match press conference: "Al Hilal is a strong team and has achieved many gains in this tournament. It also leads the Saudi league, which presents us with a great challenge and motivates us to work harder for improvement."

The Shabab Al Ahli coach added: "We are fighting for qualification and are suffering from a heavy match schedule, having played more than 10 matches in 38 days. This is pushing us to look for new ideas to face this tough challenge."

Souza concluded his statements by affirming his confidence in his players, saying: "I renew my full confidence in all the players, and I believe that we will make the best decisions. I am the only coach who has given all players the opportunity in previous matches, and we will also utilize players from the reserve team during the match against Al Hilal."