Riffa face Muharraq in crucial King’s Cup quarters clash

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Holders Riffa will have a mammoth task in their quest to defend their title in His Majesty the King’s Cup football championship when they take on arch-rivals Muharraq tomorrow in the quarter-final stage.

The match is scheduled for an 8.30 pm kick-off at the National Stadium in Riffa and it headlines the four high-intensity fixtures in the last eight.

Also tomorrow, Manama face off with East Riffa in another match of the round of eight, kicking off at 6.15 pm.

On Wednesday, another two games will take place at the same venue.

Al Najma faces Al Ahli at 6.15 pm, followed by Al Khaldiya taking on Hidd at 8.30 pm.

The winners of the Riffa-Muharraq and Manama-East Riffa contests will face off in the semi-finals, while the victors of Ahli-Najma and Khaldiya-Hidd clash in the other final four-game.

The dates of those two fixtures, along with the final, have yet to be announced by the Bahrain Football Association.

Riffa reached the quarters after beating Al Hala 2-1 in the Round of 16, where Muharraq took care of Al Malkiya 3-1.

Manama advanced following a 2-0 win over Galali, whereas East Riffa beat Bahrain Club 4-2 in penalty kicks after things remained deadlocked at 1-1 at the end of regular time.

Last year’s losing finalists Ahli made it through with a 4-0 win over Al Ettifaq, while Najma outplayed Busaiteen 3-0.

Khalidya were 4-1 winners in a penalty shootout over Budaiya after it was 1-1 at the end of regulation, and Hidd beat Sitra 2-1 to march through.