<div><img style="" class="img-responsive" src="https://testqsl.westeurope.cloudapp.azure.com/sites/default/files/%D8%A…; alt="Alt" title="" /></div>
<p>Al Rayyan take on Iran’s Esteghlal in the 2020 AFC Champions League play-off on Tuesday, 28th January, for a berth in the group stage. The kick-off is at 18:15 at the Al Sadd Stadium.</p><p>Qatar’s Al Sadd and Al Duhail, the top two teams in the 2018-19 QNB Stars League, had qualified directly for the group stage of Asia’s premier club competition.</p><p>Al Sailiya and Al Rayyan, the third and fourth-placed teams, went into play-off to be eligible to make it to the tournament proper.</p><p>Esteghlal qualified to play Al Rayyan after they defeated Kuwait SC 3-0 in Dubai in the preliminary round on 25th January.</p><p>The winners of the Al Rayyan vs Esteghlal match will join Group A, which includes the UAE’s Al Wahda, Iraq’s Al Shorta and the winners of another play-off between Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli and Tajikistan’s FC Istiklol, to be played on 28th January.</p><p>Al Rayyan have had a bad run of late as they lost 1-4 to Al Sadd in the 2020 Qatar Cup semifinal and 2-4 to Al Gharafa in Week 13 of the QNB Stars League on 23rd  January.</p><p>Uruguayan Diego Aguirre-coached Al Rayyan have in their ranks players, who can make a difference, such as Algerian Yacine Brahimi, new Ivorian professional Yohan Boli, South Korean Lee Jae-Ik, Cameroonian Franck Kom, Rodrigo Tabata, Abdulaziz Hatem, Khaled Muftah and Ahmed Abdelmaksoud.</p>