# 2019–20 Esteghlal F.C. season

The 2019–20 season is the Esteghlal Football Club's 19th season in the Iran Pro League, and their 26th consecutive season in the top division of Iranian football. They also competed in the Hazfi Cup, and 74th year in existence as a football club.

## Players
### First team squad

    Last updated: 2 February 2020 (2020-02-02)
| No. | Name | Position | Date of Birth (Age) | Since | End | Signed from |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||
| 1 | Hossein Hosseini | GK | (1992-06-30)30 June 1992 (aged 27) | 2012 | 2021 | Youth Sector |
| 19 | Hossein Pour Hamidi | GK | (1998-03-26)26 March 1998 (aged 21) | 2019 | 2022 | Esteghlal Khuzestan |
| 78 | Alireza Ansari | GK | (2000-02-06)6 February 2000 (aged 19) | 2019 | 2020 | Youth Sector |
| Defenders ||||||||
| 3 | Milad Zakipour | LB / LM | (1995-11-23)23 November 1995 (aged 24) | 2016 | 2021 | Naft Tehran |
| 4 | Roozbeh Cheshmi | CB / DM | (1993-07-24)24 July 1993 (aged 26) | 2015 | 2020 | Saba Qom |
| 5 | Aref Gholami | CB / RB / LB | (1997-04-19)19 April 1997 (aged 22) | 2019 | 2021 | Foolad |
| 21 | Vouria Ghafouri | RB / RW | (1987-09-20)20 September 1987 (aged 32) | 2016 | 2021 | Sepahan |
| 22 | Siavash Yazdani | CB | (1992-03-02)2 March 1992 (aged 27) | 2019 | 2021 | Sepahan |
| 30 | Azim Gök | CB / LB | (1996-01-25)25 January 1996 (aged 23) | 2016 | 2021 | Youth Sector |
| 32 | Amirhossein Kargar | RB | (1998-11-22)22 November 1998 (aged 21) | 2018 | 2021 | Youth Sector |
| 33 | Hrvoje Milić | LB / LM | (1989-05-10)10 May 1989 (aged 30) | 2019 | 2021 | Crotone |
| 41 | Arash Dajliri | RB | (1999-01-19)19 January 1999 (aged 20) | 2020 | | Youth Sector |
| 57 | Shahin Taherkhani | CB | (1997-01-07)7 January 1997 (aged 22) | 2018 | 2021 | Youth Sector |
| 70 | Mohammad Daneshgar | CB | (1994-01-20)20 January 1994 (aged 25) | 2018 | 2020 | Saipa |
| Midfielders ||||||||
| 6 | Ali Karimi | CM / DM | (1994-02-11)11 February 1994 (aged 25) | 2018 | 2020 | Sepahan |
| 8 | Farshid Esmaeili | AM / LW / RW | (1994-02-23)23 February 1994 (aged 25) | 2015 | 2020 | Fajr Sepasi |
| 9 | Ali Dashti | RW / SS | (1994-01-18)18 January 1994 (aged 25) | 2018 | 2021 | Saipa |
| 14 | Farshid Bagheri | DM / CM | (1992-06-05)5 June 1992 (aged 27) | 2016 | 2020 | Saba Qom |
| 15 | Sina Khadempour | DM / CM / CB | (1997-01-09)9 January 1997 (aged 22) | 2017 | 2022 | Naft Tehran |
| 23 | Dariush Shojaeian | AM / RW / LW | (1992-04-07)7 April 1992 (aged 27) | 2017 | 2020 | Gostaresh Foulad |
| 28 | Mohsen Karimi | LW / RW / SS | (1994-09-20)20 September 1994 (aged 25) | 2014 | 2020 | Youth Sector |
| 40 | Amir Hossein Khodamoradi | AM | (2000-09-13)13 September 2000 (aged 19) | 2020 | 2024 | Youth Sector |
| 66 | Masoud Rigi | DM / CM | (1991-02-22)22 February 1991 (aged 28) | 2019 | 2021 | Shahr Khodro |
| 77 | Reza Azari | DM / CM / AM | (1998-02-10)10 February 1998 (aged 21) | 2018 | 2023 | Youth Sector |
| 80 | Mohammad Bolboli | LW | (1998-01-11)11 January 1998 (aged 21) | 2019 | 2023 | Sepidrood |
| 88 | Arash Rezavand | AM / CM | (1993-10-05)5 October 1993 (aged 26) | 2019 | 2021 | Saipa |
| Forwards ||||||||
| 7 | Cheick Diabaté | CF / SS | (1988-04-25)25 April 1988 (aged 31) | 2019 | 2021 | Osmanlıspor |
| 10 | Mehdi Ghayedi | SS / RW / LW | (1998-12-05)5 December 1998 (aged 21) | 2017 | 2023 | Iranjavan |
| 11 | Morteza Tabrizi | CF / LW | (1991-01-06)6 January 1991 (aged 28) | 2018 | 2020 | Zob Ahan |
| 17 | Zakaria Moradi | CF / RW | (1998-08-14)14 August 1998 (aged 21) | 2019 | 2023 | Youth Sector |
| 72 | Amir Arsalan Motahari | CF / RW | (1993-03-10)10 March 1993 (aged 26) | 2020 | 2021 | Zob Ahan |
| Players transferred during the season ||||||||
| 99 | Sajjad Aghaei | CF / LW / RW | (1999-03-19)19 March 1999 (aged 20) | 2017 | 2022 | Youth Sector |
| 20 | Nikolay Bodurov | CB | (1986-05-30)30 May 1986 (aged 33) | 2020 | 2021 | Unattached |

## Transfers
### In

| No. | Pos. | Name | Age | Moving from | Type | Transfer window | Ends |
| — | | Hamed Bakhshi | 18 | Peykan | Transfer | Summer | |
| 80 | LW | Mohammad Bolboli | 21 | Sepidrood | Transfer | Summer | 2023 |
| 9 | RW | Ali Dashti | 25 | Saipa | Transfer | Summer | 2021 |
| 44 | CB | Milad Bagheri | 23 | Mes Kerman | Transfer | Summer | 2022 |
| 22 | CB | Siavash Yazdani | 27 | Sepahan | Transfer | Summer | 2021 |
| 66 | DM | Masoud Rigi | 28 | Shahr Khodro | Transfer | Summer | 2021 |
| 15 | DM | Sina Khadempour | 22 | Gol Gohar | End of loan | Summer | 2022 |
| 70 | RW | Mohammad Javad Mohammadi | 23 | Arvand Karun | End of loan | Summer | 2022 |
| 80 | RW | Mohammad Dehghan Nejad | 19 | Saipa | Transfer | Winter | 2020 |
| 88 | AM | Arash Rezavand | 25 | Saipa | Transfer | Summer | 2021 |
| 7 | CF | Cheick Diabaté | 31 | Osmanlıspor | Transfer | Summer | 2021 |
| 38 | CM | Ali Tari | 18 | Zob Ahan | Transfer | Summer | 2024 |
| 5 | CB | Aref Gholami | 22 | Foolad | Transfer | Summer | 2021 |
| — | GK | Erfan Khalili | 19 | Niroo Zamini | Transfer | Summer | 2020 |
| 19 | GK | Hossein Pour Hamidi | 21 | Esteghlal Khuzestan | Transfer | Summer | 2022 |
| 33 | LB | Hrvoje Milić | 30 | Crotone | Transfer | Summer | 2021 |
| — | LW | Hossein Bijani | 16 | Foolad | Transfer | Summer | 2022 |
| 30 | CB | Azim Gök | 23 | Malavan | End of loan | Winter | 2021 |
| 72 | CF | Amir Arsalan Motahari | 26 | Zob Ahan | Transfer | Winter | 2021 |
| 20 | CB | Nikolay Bodurov | 33 | Unattached | Transfer | Winter | 2021 |

### Out

| No. | Pos. | Name | Age | Moving to | Type | Transfer window |
| — | GK | Sasan Zamaneh | 20 | Persepolis | Transfer | Summer |
| — | GK | Parsa Jafari | 19 | Saipa | Transfer | Summer |
| 2 | RB | Khosro Heydari | 35 | Retired | End of contract | Summer |
| 1 | GK | Mehdi Rahmati | 36 | Shahr Khodro | End of contract | Summer |
| — | GK | Mohammad Javad Kia | 17 | Shahr Khodro | Transfer | Summer |
| 44 | RB | Farshad Mohammadi | 24 | Shahr Khodro | Transfer | Summer |
| 12 | LB | Meysam Teymouri | 26 | Tractor Sazi | Transfer | Summer |
| 5 | AM | Ayanda Patosi | 26 | Cape Town | Loan return | Summer |
| 26 | CF | Fardin Najafi | 21 | Oghab Tehran | Loan | Summer |
| 30 | DM | Omid Noorafkan | 22 | Charleroi | Loan return | Summer |
| 16 | RW | Allahyar Sayyadmanesh | 18 | Fenerbahçe | Transfer | Summer |
| 29 | LB | Amirhossein Esmaeilzadeh | 19 | Pars Jonoubi | Transfer | Summer |
| 88 | RW | Reza Karimi | 20 | Unattached | Released | Summer |
| 90 | CF | Godwin Mensha | 29 | Ajman | Transfer | Summer |
| — | LW | Ahmadreza Ahmadvand | 20 | Persepolis | Transfer | Summer |
| 13 | LB | Armin Sohrabian | 23 | Saipa | Transfer | Summer |
| 10 | CF | Rouhollah Bagheri | 28 | Shahr Khodro | Transfer | Summer |
| 27 | AM | Hossein Heydari | 20 | Qashqai | Transfer | Summer |
| 70 | RW | Mohammad Javad Mohammadi | 23 | Sorkhpooshan | Transfer | Summer |
| 43 | LB | Amirhossein Pourmohammad | 21 | Sorkhpooshan | Transfer | Summer |
| 17 | LW | Humam Tariq | 23 | Ismaily | Transfer | Summer |
| 33 | CB | Pejman Montazeri | 35 | Al Kharitiyat | End of contract | Summer |
| 38 | CF | Meraj Pourtaghi | 21 | Damash Gilan | Transfer | Summer |
| 22 | GK | Mehdi Nourollahi | 22 | Saipa | Transfer | Summer |
| 20 | CF | Esmaël Gonçalves | 28 | Matsumoto Yamaga | Transfer | Summer |
| 44 | CB | Milad Bagheri | 24 | Pars Jonoubi | Transfer | Winter |
| 98 | RW | Morteza Aghakhan | 26 | Saipa | Transfer | Winter |
| 99 | CF | Sajjad Aghaei | 20 | Zob Ahan | Loan | Winter |

## Competitions
### Overview

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Pro League | 22 August 2019 | 20 August 2020 | Matchday 1 | 2nd | 30 | 14 | 11 | 5 | 55 | 31 | +24 | 046.67 |
| Hazfi Cup | 30 September 2019 | 3 September 2020 | Round of 32 | Runners-up | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 6 | +6 | 060.00 |
| AFC Champions League | 21 January 2020 | 26 September 2020 | Preliminary round 2 | Round of 16 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 6 | +9 | 042.86 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 42 | 20 | 14 | 8 | 82 | 43 | +39 | 047.62 |
Last updated: 27 September 2020 (2020-09-27). Source: Competitions

### Persian Gulf Pro League
#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 21 August 2020 (2020-08-21). Source: Ipl Stats

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A |
| Result | L | D | D | L | D | W | W | W | W | W | W | D | W | D | W | L | L | W | D | W | L | D | L | D | W | D | W | D | D | W |
| Position | 12 | 12 | 11 | 15 | 14 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |

#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Persepolis (C) | 30 | 21 | 4 | 5 | 46 | 17 | +29 | 67 | Qualification for 2021 AFC Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Esteghlal | 30 | 14 | 11 | 5 | 55 | 31 | +24 | 53 | Qualification for 2021 AFC Champions League group stage |
| 3 | Foolad | 30 | 14 | 9 | 7 | 28 | 19 | +9 | 51 | Qualification for 2021 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs |
| 4 | Tractor | 30 | 14 | 8 | 8 | 31 | 23 | +8 | 50 | Qualification for 2021 AFC Champions League group stage |
| 5 | Sepahan | 30 | 12 | 13 | 5 | 39 | 22 | +17 | 49 | |
* ↑ Tractor qualified to AFC Champions League group stage directly by winning the Hazfi Cup

#### Matches

Win  Draw  Loss  Postponed/Cancelled

### AFC Champions League
#### Qualifying play-off
##### Play-off
#### Group stage

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | AHL | EST | SHO | WAH |
| 1 | Al-Ahli | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 6 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 2–1 | 1–0 | 20 Sep |
| 2 | Esteghlal | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 5 | Advance to knockout stage | 3–0 | — | 1–1 | 17 Sep |
| 3 | Al-Shorta | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 5 | | 2–1 | 1–1 | — | 0–1 |
| 4 | Al-Wahda | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Withdrew | 1–1 | 14 Sep | 23 Sep | — |
* ↑ Al-Wahda were unable to travel to Qatar to play the final four matches of the group stage due to several team members testing positive for COVID-19. They were considered to have withdrawn from the competition, and all previous matches played by them shall be considered "null and void" and would not be considered in determining the final group rankings.

#### Knockout stage
##### Round of 16
## Statistics
### Squad statistics

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Pro League | Pro League | Hazfi Cup | Hazfi Cup | ACL | ACL |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | | Hossein Hosseini | 42 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | | Milad Zakipour | 27 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | | Roozbeh Cheshmi | 31 | 1 | 22 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | | Aref Gholami | 29 | 1 | 21 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | | Ali Karimi | 37 | 8 | 27 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 2 |
| 7 | FW | | Cheick Diabaté | 28 | 19 | 21 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 4 |
| 8 | MF | | Farshid Esmaeili | 29 | 3 | 22 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | | Ali Dashti | 17 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | | Mehdi Ghayedi | 41 | 15 | 30 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 3 |
| 11 | FW | | Morteza Tabrizi | 16 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | | Farshid Bagheri | 21 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 15 | MF | | Sina Khadempour | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | | Zakaria Moradi | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 21 | DF | | Vouria Ghafouri | 39 | 8 | 29 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
| 22 | DF | | Siavash Yazdani | 14 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | | Dariush Shojaeian | 9 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | MF | | Mohsen Karimi | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | DF | | Amirhossein Kargar | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | DF | | Hrvoje Milić | 30 | 2 | 22 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 40 | MF | | Amir Hossein Khodamoradi | 7 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 | DF | | Arash Dajliri | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 42 | MF | | Fardin Rabet | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 57 | DF | | Shahin Taherkhani | 11 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 66 | MF | | Masoud Rigi | 38 | 1 | 26 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 70 | DF | | Mohammad Daneshgar | 36 | 5 | 24 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| 72 | FW | | Amir Arsalan Motahari | 20 | 10 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 4 |
| 77 | MF | | Reza Azari | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 80 | MF | | Mohammad Bolboli | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 88 | MF | | Arash Rezavand | 38 | 1 | 27 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Players transferred/loaned out during the season ||||||||||||
| 20 | DF | | Nikolay Bodurov | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 99 | FW | | Sajjad Aghaei | 7 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Last updated: 29 September 2020 (2020-09-29) Source: Competitions

### Goals

| Rank | Player | Position | Pro League | Hazfi Cup | ACL | Total |
| 1 | Cheikh Diabaté | FW | 15 | 0 | 4 | 19 |
| 2 | Mehdi Ghayedi | FW | 10 | 2 | 3 | 15 |
| 3 | Amir Arsalan Motahari | FW | 5 | 1 | 4 | 10 |
| 4 | Voria Ghafouri | DF | 5 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
| 4 | Ali Karimi | MF | 5 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| 6 | Mohammad Daneshgar | DF | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 7 | Farshid Esmaeili | MF | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | Sajjad Aghaei | FW | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 9 | Hrvoje Milić | DF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | Dariush Shojaeian | FW | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 | Aref Gholami | DF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | Masoud Rigi | MF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | Arash Rezavand | MF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | Rouzbeh Cheshmi | DF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Own Goals | Own Goals | Own Goals | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Total | Total | Total | 55 | 12 | 15 | 82 |

### Clean sheets

| Rank | Name | Pro League | Hazfi Cup | ACL | Total |
| 1 | Hossein Hosseini | 7 | 2 | 3 | 12 |
| Total | Total | 7 | 2 | 3 | 12 |

### Disciplinary record

| N | P | Name | Pro League | Pro League | Pro League | Hazfi Cup | AFC CL | Total | Total | Total |
| 1 | GK | Hossein Hosseini | 1 | | | 2 | | 3 | | |
| 3 | DF | Milad Zakipour | 2 | | | | 1 | 3 | | |
| 4 | DF | Roozbeh Cheshmi | 2 | | | | 1 | 3 | | |
| 5 | DF | Aref Gholami | 3 | 1 | | 1 | | 4 | 1 | |
| 6 | MF | Ali Karimi | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | MF | Cheick Diabaté | 4 | | | | | 4 | | |
| 8 | MF | Farshid Esmaeili | 2 | 1 | | 2 | | 4 | 1 | |
| 9 | MF | Ali Dashti | 6 | | | 1 | | 7 | | |
| 10 | FW | Mehdi Ghayedi | 2 | | | | 1 | 3 | | |
| 11 | FW | Morteza Tabrizi | 2 | | | | | 2 | | |
| 14 | MF | Farshid Bagheri | 1 | | | | | 1 | | |
| 21 | DF | Vouria Ghafouri | 2 | | | | 1 | 3 | | |
| 23 | MF | Dariush Shojaeian | 2 | | | | | 2 | | |
| 33 | DF | Hrvoje Milić | 1 | | | | 2 | 3 | | |
| 57 | DF | Shahin Taherkhani | | | | | 1 | 1 | | |
| 66 | MF | Masoud Rigi | 5 | | | 1 | 1 | 7 | | |
| 70 | DF | Mohammad Daneshgar | 3 | | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | | 1 |
| 72 | FW | Amir Arsalan Motahari | 1 | | | | 1 | 2 | | |
| 88 | MF | Arash Rezavand | 6 | 1 | | | 4 | 10 | 1 | |
Last updated: 29 September 2020 (2020-09-29) Source: Scoreway Only competitive matches = Number of bookings; = Number of sending offs after a second yellow card; = Number of sending offs by a direct red card.