Michael Olunga’s Al Duhail suffer Champions League loss

Harambee Stars captain Michael Olunga completed the full 90 minutes in a match where his team, Al Duhail, faced a tough challenge in the AFC Champions League on Monday night. Unfortunately, they suffered a 1-0 defeat.

Olunga once again featured as the central striker for his team, partnering with Phillipe Coutinho, who occupied the number 10 position.

Michael Olunga starts

This marked the second consecutive game in which they started together, following their impressive performance in a 2-1 league victory over Al Markhiya.

However, in this match, Olunga was unable to find the back of the net, and his team conceded a goal in the 63rd minute. Coutinho was substituted in additional minutes.

With this defeat, Al Duhail currently occupies the third position in their group, having earned just one point from two matches, consisting of a draw and a loss.

The AFC Champions League (ACL) is an annual continental club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It features the top-division football clubs from across Asia and is considered the most prestigious club competition in Asian football. Participating teams include the national league champions and, in some cases, one or more runners-up from their respective national associations.

Originally known as the Asian Champion Club Tournament when it was introduced in 1967, the competition underwent a rebranding in 2002 and adopted its current name, the AFC Champions League. This change resulted from the merger of three previous Asian club competitions: the Asian Club Championship, the Asian Cup Winners’ Cup, and the Asian Super Cup.

The competition’s group stage consists of 40 clubs competing in a round-robin format. Teams from Asia’s strongest national leagues receive automatic berths, while clubs from lower-ranked nations have the opportunity to qualify through the qualifying playoffs. Additionally, these lower-ranked teams may also participate in the AFC Cup, another prestigious Asian club competition. The ultimate prize for the winner of the AFC Champions League is qualification for the FIFA Club World Cup.

Al-Hilal is the most successful club in the tournament’s history, boasting a total of four titles. The current champions are Urawa Red Diamonds, who secured victory in the 2022 final by defeating Al-Hilal.

Michael Olunga ‘s run

Despite the team’s recent challenges especially in the Champions League, Olunga has been in exceptional form in the league this season, scoring five goals in just five appearances.

The prolific forward, who was the league’s top scorer in the previous season, has started four matches and made one appearance as a substitute, accumulating a total of 358 minutes on the field.

He currently shares the top spot in the goal-scoring charts with Guy Mbenza, while Yacine Ibrahimi leads the league with seven goals.