Ivankovic Confident Fan Power Will Propel Persepolis

AFC – TEHRAN, Persepolis coach Branko Ivankovic believes home advantage could be key ahead of his side’s vital AFC Champions League encounter with already eliminated Bunyodkor of Uzbekistan at the Azadi Stadium on Wednesday as they look to advance to the Round of 16 for the third time.

The Iranian outfit head into the match in second place in Group A on nine points, a point behind group leaders Lekhwiya of Qatar and one ahead of Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr, but on the back of a disappointing 3-0 defeatl in Doha on Matchday Five.

With the Qatari champions and the Saudi League winners facing off in Riyadh in Wednesday’s other tie, Ivankovic knows that a win would guarantee passage to the next phase and could even help them leapfrog Lekhwiya into first place should Michael Laudrup’s side fail to defeat the Saudi club.

“The match against Bunyodkor is very important for us; if we don’t get the result we need, we will be out the tournament,” said the Croatian coach, who saw his side triumph 1-0 in the reverse fixture in Tashkent on Matchday Two.

“I have watched all of Bunyodkor’s matches in this group so far. I believe they deserve to be in a better position than where they lie now in the standings. They are a very good team, but have not been lucky enough so far.

“It will be a tough match but our fans can be our twelfth player. And even though they have not been happy with results, they are expected to support their team during these tough days.

“I have worked on my players’ concentration to minimise their errors on the pitch, and in the previous game [a 1-0 victory over Paykan in the Iran league] we saw that their mistakes were at the minimum level.”

Bunyodkor coach Sergey Lushchan, meanwhile, will be hoping his side can achieve a positive result as they wrap up a disappointing campaign that has seen them claim just a solitary point from five games.

Having secured an impressive 1-1 draw against Al Nassr in Riyadh on Matchday One, the former semi-finalists went on to suffer four successive 1-0 defeats as their elimination was confirmed with two games remaining.

“We know we have a difficult match tomorrow against Persepolis because they have a lot of fans at home, but we will try our best to defend our dignity and pride,” said Lushchan, who will be without suspended defenders Hayrulla Karimov and Anvar Gafurov.

“We made a lot of goal-scoring opportunities in the group stage, but we had problems finishing them.

“On the positive side, the players have gained valuable experience in this tournament and we have prepared them for the future of our club.”