The 2007 Iran Pro League champions were held to a 2-2 draw last week in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium. Saipa will play Kuruvchi in Tashkent’s MHSK Stadium.
Saipa coach Pierre Littbarski is in a confident mood ahead of the second leg despite the Uzbek side holding a slight edge in the tie.
“We know much more about Kuruvchi than before including their strengths and weaknesses,” said the German at the news conference.
“I think that for the second leg, our physical condition will be far greater than theirs. Kurivchi are a good team but Saipa are stronger and we still have an excellent chance of reaching the semi-finals.”
Not surprisingly, Littbarski has singled out former World Player of the Year Rivaldo for special attention after the Brazilian netted his third goal in two games for the Uzbek side in last week’s draw in Iran, according to AFC.
“Rivaldo is their most effective player and we’ve made special plans for him,” he explained.
“We gave him too much time and space (in the first half of the first leg) but closed him down better in the second half,” he said, adding, “We’ll mark him from the first minute to increase our chances of winning.”
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