# 2018–19 Al Ain FC season

The 2018–19 season was Al Ain Football Club's 51st in existence and the club's 44th consecutive season in the top-level football league in the UAE. In December 2018, Al Ain which celebrated the 50th anniversary participating in the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup, representing the host nation as the reigning champions of the UAE Pro-League, Al Ain defeated Copa Libertadores champions River Plate by penalties hosted in home stadium Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium to enter the final for the first time in team history and became the first Emirati club to reach the decisive match. The final, on 22 December, was lost 4–1 to UEFA Champions League winners Real Madrid at the Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

## Players
### First Team

| No | Position | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | UAE | Mohammed Abo Sandah |
| 12 | GK | UAE | Hamad Al-Mansouri |
| 17 | GK | UAE | Khalid Eisa |
| 2 | DF | UAE | Ali Al Haidhani |
| 3 | DF | MLI | Tongo Doumbia |
| 4 | DF | UAE | Saeed Musabbeh |
| 5 | DF | UAE | Ismail Ahmed |
| 14 | DF | UAE | Mohammed Fayez |
| 15 | DF | UAE | Khaled Abdulrahman |
| 19 | DF | UAE | Mohanad Salem |
| 23 | DF | UAE | Mohamed Ahmed |
| 33 | DF | JPN | Tsukasa Shiotani |
| 44 | DF | UAE | Saeed Juma |
| 45 | DF | UAE | Abdulrahman Almahri |
| 50 | DF | EGY | Ahmed Jamal |
| 56 | DF | UAE | Salem Abdullah |
| 62 | DF | UAE | Khalid Al Bloushi |
| 6 | MF | UAE | Amer Abdulrahman |
| 7 | MF | BRA | Caio |
| 8 | MF | UAE | Hazem Fayez |
| 11 | MF | UAE | Bandar Al-Ahbabi |
| 13 | MF | UAE | Ahmed Barman |
| 16 | MF | UAE | Mohamed Abdulrahman |
| 18 | MF | CIV | Ibrahim Diaky |
| 28 | MF | UAE | Sulaiman Nasser |
| 29 | MF | EGY | Mohamed Fathy |
| 43 | MF | UAE | Rayan Yaslam |
| 51 | MF | UAE | Khalid Al-Bloushi |
| 54 | MF | PLE | Abdalla Mazen |
| 58 | MF | UAE | Falah Waleed |
| 74 | MF | EGY | Hussein El Shahat |
| 88 | MF | EGY | Yahia Nader |
| 9 | FW | SWE | Marcus Berg |
| 10 | FW | POR | Rúben Ribeiro |
| 20 | FW | UAE | Saad Khamis |
| 30 | FW | UAE | Mohammed Khalfan |
| 99 | FW | UAE | Jamal Maroof |

## 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 | 31 August 2018 | 26 May 2019 | Matchday 1 | 4th | 26 | 14 | 4 | 8 | 45 | 35 | +10 | 053.85 |
| President's Cup | 7 December 2018 | 7 December 2018 | Round of 16 | Round of 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 000.00 |
| League Cup | 5 September 2018 | 28 December 2018 | Group stage | Quarter-finals | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 5 | +6 | 057.14 |
| UAE Super Cup | 25 August 2018 | 25 August 2018 | Final | Runners–up | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | +0 | 000.00 |
| Champions League | 5 March 2019 | 20 May 2019 | Group stage | Group stage (4th) | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 10 | −6 | 000.00 |
| FIFA Club World Cup | 12 December 2018 | 22 December 2018 | First round | Runners–up | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 9 | +0 | 025.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 45 | 19 | 10 | 16 | 75 | 67 | +8 | 042.22 |
Last updated: 19 December 2019 Source: Competitions

### UAE Pro-League
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 2 | Shabab Al Ahli | 26 | 17 | 2 | 7 | 57 | 36 | +21 | 53 | Qualification for AFC Champions League group stage |
| 3 | Al Wahda | 26 | 14 | 4 | 8 | 63 | 40 | +23 | 46 | Qualification for AFC Champions League group stage |
| 4 | Al Ain | 26 | 14 | 4 | 8 | 45 | 35 | +10 | 46 | Qualification for AFC Champions League play-off round |
| 5 | Al Jazira | 26 | 13 | 6 | 7 | 66 | 41 | +25 | 45 | Qualification for Arab Champions League |
| 6 | Baniyas | 26 | 11 | 7 | 8 | 50 | 40 | +10 | 40 | |
* ↑ Since league runners-up, Shabab Al Ahli, were also UAE President's Cup winners, the league 3rd place qualified for the AFC Champions League group stage.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 19 December 2019. Source: Competitive matches

#### 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 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | W | W | W | W | D | L | W | L | W | W | W | W | W | D | L | W | L | W | L | L | D | L | D | W | W | L |
| Position | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 |

#### Matches

Win  Draw  Loss

### League Cup
#### Group B

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Al Nasr | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 6 | +8 | 15 |
| Al Ain | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 4 | +7 | 13 |
| Al Jazira | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 10 |
| Emirates | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 8 |
| Al Dhafra | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 11 | −3 | 7 |
| Fujairah | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 18 | −5 | 7 |
| Sharjah | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 15 | −10 | 0 |

#### Knockout stage
### FIFA Club World Cup

In the first round on 12 December, Al-Ain defeated Team Wellington in a penalty shoot-out following a 3–3 draw at their home stadium, Hazza bin Zayed Stadium. Wellington, a semi-professional club that qualified as the OFC Champions League champion, entered halftime with a 3–1 lead that was cut back by an equalising volley from Marcus Berg. The match remained scoreless after extra time and advanced to a penalty shoot-out, which Al-Ain won 4–3 after five rounds after goalkeeper Khalid Eisa made two saves.
Al-Ain advanced to face African champions Espérance de Tunis in the second round match, held three days later at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium. The team defeated Espérance 3–0 in an upset that began with two goals scored in the opening 16 minutes. Al-Ain produced a larger upset in the semi-finals, defeating Copa Libertadores champions River Plate in a penalty shoot-out to advance to the Club World Cup final. The match began with two early goals for River Plate scored by Rafael Santos Borré following an opening strike from Berg; after an equalising goal was disallowed by the video assistant referee, Caio Lucas Fernandes scored for Al-Ain in the 51st minute to draw the teams level at 2–2. After a scoreless extra time, aided by goalkeeper Essa's saves, Al-Ain defeated River Plate 5–4 in a penalty shoot-out, its second of the competition, with Essa making one save on River's Enzo Pérez. The semi-final upset of River was called the "greatest achievement" in Emirati football history by Al-Ain manager Zoran Mamić.

### AFC Champions League
#### Group stage
##### Group C

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | HIL | DUH | EST | AIN |
| 1 | Al-Hilal | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 5 | +5 | 13 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| 2 | Al-Duhail | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 8 | +3 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage | 2–2 | — | 3–0 | 2–2 |
| 3 | Esteghlal | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 8 | −2 | 8 | | 2–1 | 1–1 | — | 1–1 |
| 4 | Al-Ain | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 10 | −6 | 2 | | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | — |

## Statistics
### Squad appearances and goals

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Pro-League | Pro-League | President's Cup | President's Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Champions League | Champions League | Other | Other |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | GK | UAE | Mohammed Abo Sandah | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | GK | UAE | Hamad Al-Mansouri | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | GK | UAE | Khalid Eisa | 34 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | DF | UAE | Ali Al Haidhani | 7 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | MLI | Tongo Doumbia | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| 4 | DF | UAE | Saeed Musabbeh | 11 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | UAE | Ismail Ahmed | 26 | 1 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 14 | DF | UAE | Mohammed Fayez | 18 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | UAE | Khaled Abdulrahman | 8 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | DF | UAE | Mohanad Salem | 27 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | UAE | Mohamed Ahmed | 14 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| 33 | DF | JPN | Tsukasa Shiotani | 42 | 6 | 26 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| 44 | DF | UAE | Saeed Juma | 20 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 | DF | UAE | Abdulrahman Almahri | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 50 | DF | EGY | Ahmed Jamal | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 56 | DF | UAE | Salem Abdullah | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 62 | DF | UAE | Khalid Al Bloushi | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | MF | UAE | Amer Abdulrahman | 27 | 1 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | BRA | Caio | 36 | 16 | 22 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| 8 | MF | UAE | Hazem Fayez | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | UAE | Bandar Al-Ahbabi | 32 | 2 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| 13 | MF | UAE | Ahmed Barman | 26 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | UAE | Mohamed Abdulrahman | 22 | 1 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 18 | MF | CIV | Ibrahim Diaky | 15 | 6 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 28 | MF | UAE | Sulaiman Nasser | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | MF | EGY | Mohamed Fathy | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 43 | MF | UAE | Rayan Yaslam | 26 | 1 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 51 | MF | UAE | Khalid Al-Bloushi | 9 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 58 | MF | UAE | Falah Waleed | 12 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 88 | MF | EGY | Yahia Nader | 22 | 1 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Forwards ||||||||||||||||
| 9 | FW | SWE | Marcus Berg | 32 | 15 | 20 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 3 |
| 10 | FW | POR | Rúben Ribeiro | 12 | 2 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | FW | UAE | Saad Khamis | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | FW | UAE | Mohammed Khalvan | 26 | 1 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 99 | FW | UAE | Jamal Maroof | 32 | 6 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Players transferred out during the season ||||||||||||||||
| 74 | MF | EGY | Hussein El Shahat | 18 | 7 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
Last updated: 8 June 2019 Source: fr.soccerway.com
* ↑ Includes the UAE Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup

### Goalscorers

Includes all competitive matches. The list is sorted alphabetically by surname when total goals are equal.
| No. | Nat. | Player | Pos. | PL | PC | SC | LC | CL 1 | CWC | TOTAL |
| 7 | | Caio | MF | 7 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 17 |
| 9 | | Marcus Berg | FW | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 15 |
| 74 | | Hussein El Shahat | MF | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| 33 | | Tsukasa Shiotani | DF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| 18 | | Ibrahim Diaky | MF | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 99 | | Jamal Maroof | FW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| 10 | | Rúben Ribeiro | FW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 | | Bandar Al-Ahbabi | MF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 30 | | Mohammed Khalvan | FW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 88 | | Yahya Nader | MF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 58 | | Falah Waleed | MF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 51 | | Khalid Al-Bloushi | MF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 43 | | Rayan Yaslam | MF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 16 | | Mohamed Abdulrahman | MF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | | Amer Abdulrahman | MF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | | Ismail Ahmed | DF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | | Tongo Doumbia | DF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 23 | | Mohamed Ahmed | DF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Own Goals | Own Goals | Own Goals | Own Goals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 45 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 4 | 9 | 75 |

### Clean sheets

Includes all competitive matches.
| No. | Name | PL | PC | SC | LC | CL 1 | CWC | Total |
| 1 | Mohammed Abo Sandah | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | Hamad Abdulla Nasser | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 17 | Khalid Eisa | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| | TOTALS | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 11 |