Club World Cup: Al Ain 'fully motivated' for big clash against Man City
Fourteen-time UAE champions Al Ain face a do-or-die Group G clash against Premier League giants Manchester City in the Fifa Club World Cup on Monday (UAE Time 5 am).
Having lost their opening game on Thursday to Juventus 5-0, Al Ain need to earn at least a point against Pep Guardiola's team in Atlanta to keep their faint hopes alive of advancing to the knockout rounds.
Defending champions City, on the other hand, got their campaign off to a great start with a comfortable 2-0 win over Moroccan club Wydad.
On paper, there is no comparison between the two sides with the Abu Dhabi-owned Man City possessing some of the world's greatest footballers in their squad.
Al Ain's Serbian head coach, Vladimir Ivic, is aware of the magnitude of the challenge his team faces to stay alive in the tournament following their disappointing performance against Juventus.
'We respected Juventus more than we needed to at the beginning, and that allowed them to score two or three goals quite easily — goals we could have avoided,' said Ivic. 'But this is a valuable lesson for us as we prepare to face Manchester City.
'Everyone knows the calibre of a club like City. Our players must be fully motivated, play at their best, and stay compact.
'We're at the Fifa Club World Cup, facing top-level teams. We expected tough matches from the start, and we know another big challenge awaits us against City.'
Meanwhile, Guardiola is hoping to win a trophy after enduring a difficult season in which City finished third in the league and suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final.
However, the Spanish manager claims that his players are enjoying the expanded 32-team Club World Cup atmosphere in the United States.
"It's a privilege to be here... to be back after four years you have to win big, big, prizes," said Guardiola.
"I love when I see Botafogo, all the Brazilian teams, Argentinian teams, how they celebrate, how they are together, I love them," said Guardiola.
"I'm pretty sure for the South American teams, for the Brazilian teams, for Argentinean teams, this competition is maybe the maximum...
"I like how all the games are tight, except one or two, and people are surprised, European teams lose. Welcome to the real world. Welcome to the real world my friends."
Al Ain, the 2024 Asian Champions League winners, are one of the four Asian clubs in the 2025 Fifa Club World Cup.
The club from the Garden City of the UAE achieved their best result in the 2018 edition of the tournament when they finished runners-up to Real Madrid.
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