Al Gharafa, Shandong secure berths in Asian Champions League Elite

HONG KONG: Qatar’s Al Gharafa and Shandong Taishan of China took the two remaining places in Friday’s draw for the group stages of the new Asian Champions League Elite with playoff wins on Tuesday over Shabab Al-Ahli and Bangkok United respectively. Ferjani Sassi earned hosts Al Gharafa a 1-0 win over the side from the United Arab Emirates when he emerged unmarked to head in Jamal Hamed’s cross in the 50th minute while Shandong needed a penalty shoot-out to eliminate Bangkok United.

The pair complete the 24-team line-up for the reconfigured tournament, which will kick off on Sept. 16. Shandong advanced when Bangkok United’s Todsawat Limwanasathian fired his penalty over the bar in the final round of spot-kicks in Jinan to give the Chinese Super League side a 4-3 shoot-out win after their game had ended in a 1-1 draw.

The Thais took the lead eight minutes before the interval when Richairo Zivkovic latched onto Bassel Jradi’s through pass to steer the ball past Shandong goalkeeper Wang Dalei. But six minutes later the hosts were level as Valeri Qazaishvili bent his right foot shot into the top corner of the Bangkok United goal from the edge of the area.

Zivkovic saw his opening penalty fly over the bar to give Shandong an early advantage but Patiwat Khammai saved Li Yuanyi’s attempt in the third round to level the scores. Bangkok were unable to take the shoot-out into sudden-death, however, as Todsawat thumped his attempt high over Wang’s goal to send Shandong through.