Sepahan, having dominated the attack in the second half, shore up their forward line by making a double change. Lotfi and Aliyari come on, replacing Limouchi and Rezaei.
Sepahan, having dominated the attack in the second half, shore up their forward line by making a double change. Lotfi and Aliyari come on, replacing Limouchi and Rezaei.
Limouchi catches an Al Ahli defender square on the face with his elbow and earns himself a booking from the refere. 12 minutes plus stoppage time remain for either side to find the breakthrough, or we will go to extra time.
Out of nowhere and completely against the run of play, Exposito almost puts Al Ahli in front, cutting inside and letting fly from outside the box. Hosseini, who had little to do all night, is alert and gets a strong arm on the shot to parry it away.
An hour's football has been played in Baku, and the cagey nature of the encounter has continued, with either goalkeeper yet to be tested. 14 shots in total, though most of them have been tame efforts or long-range strikes.
The referee blows his whistle to get the second half underway in Baku. No change at the break for either side as far as I can see.
It's half-time in Doha, and it's still goalless in what has been a pretty ordinary first half of football. Other than the Sepahan opener that VAR ruled out due to offside, there has been no other shot that can be called a clear-cut chance. Hope that it opens up a bit more in the second half as it's still level on aggregate.
The fourth official indicates a minimum of seven minutes to be added on at the end of regulation time. There have been 12 shots in total from both sides, but will we see the first goal of this leg before the break?
The referee points to the spot after Tihi is fouled in the penalty area by Hajsafi. However, VAR intervenes, and the referee Ryo Tanimoto reverses his decision.
After a lenthy check by VAR, Sepahan's opener is chalked off due to an offside call against Rezaei.
Sepahan have taken the lead on aggregate, with Rezaei finding the back of the net. It was a towering header from the Iranian winger, a fitting end to a good cross from Limouchi.
Refere Ryo Tanamito blows his whistle to get tonight's match underway at Al Thumama Stadium. Stay tuned.
Starting XI: Hossein Hosseini; Aria Yousefi, Mohammad Daneshgar, Mohammad Hazbavi, Ehsan Hajsafi (c); Arash Rezavand, Aref Haji Eidi, Ricardo Alves; Mehdi Limouchi, Mohammadmehdi Mohebi, Kaveh Rezaei.
Bench: Amirmehdi Maghsoudi (gk), Seyed Rafiei (gk), Majid Aliyari, Mohammadreza Bordbar, Giorgi Gvelesiani, Ali Kamali, Ali Karimi, Ali Khodadadi, Mohammadmehdi Lotfi,Hadi Mohammadi, Ivan Sanchez, Milad Zakipour.
Starting XI: Marwan Badredlin; William Troost-Ekong, Hamad Mansour, Michel Vlap; Amidou Doumbouya, Driss Fettouhi (c); Sekou Yansane, Erik Exposito, Ayoub Amraouil; Ahmed Reyed.
Bench: Yazan Naim (gk), Mohamed Lingliz (gk), Younis Abdelrahman, Mohammed Al Ishaq, Tilal Ali, Nasser Al Nasr, Suhaib Gannan, Jassem Mohammed, Hilal Mohammed, Khalid Mohammed, Khalid Radwan, Islam Yassine.
The AFC Champions League Two matches, including Al Ahli vs Sepahan and Al-Nassr vs Arkadag, will be live-streamed in India on the FanCode app and website. The match will not be televised live on any TV channels.
Fixture: Al Ahli Doha vs Sepahan
Series: AFC Champions League Two 2025-26
Venue: Al Thumama Stadium, Doha
Date: Wednesday, February 18, 2026
Time: 11:45 PM IST
Hello, football fans! This is the start of our live blog covering Al Ahli’s AFC Champions League Two Round of 16 second leg match against Sepahan. Stay tuned for pre-match updates and line-ups as they are released.