Muharraq to face Tunisian side in King Salman Club Cup qualifiers

TDT | Manama                                                             

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain’s Muharraq Club are set to play in the second qualification round for the 2023 King Salman Club Cup—the region’s top tournament organised by the Union of Arab Football Associations, also known as the Arab Club Champions Cup.

The first leg of their qualifying match-up with Union Sportive Monastirienne of Tunisia takes place Sunday in Tunis, with the return fixture set to be held back in the Kingdom on May 31.

Muharraq made it through to this stage following a 5-4 penalty-shootout victory against Al Seeb of Oman in the second-leg of their match-up in this qualifying stage. The match was played at Al Seeb Stadium in Muscat, and it ended 2-0 in favour of the hosts.

That forged a 2-2 deadlock on aggregate, with the Bahrainis having earlier defeated their Omani counterparts 2-0 in the first-leg. Muharraq have named a 21-player squad for the opening leg. The team travelled yesterday to the Tunisian capital from Bahrain.

Muharraq are one of two Bahraini clubs that have joined the tournament’s qualification phase. Manama are the other, but they lost their first-leg clash against Al Hilal Omdurman of Sudan. Twelve teams remain in this second phase of qualification, which will determine the six teams that will move on to the group stage.

Ten squads have already entered directly, including champion clubs from Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia. The tournament carries a huge prize purse, with the champions pocketing a cool US$ 6 million. The runners-up get $ 2.5 million, while the semi-finalists each take home $200,000 and the quarter-finalists $150,000 each.