Olunga’s Duhail land tough group in Champions League

Michael Olunga’s Al Duhail has landed a challenging group in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League that kicks off in April.

Duhail who qualified for the Champions League after lifting the 2019-2020 Qatar Stars League title are placed in Group C and will face Suadi giants Al Ahli Saudi.

The group also features 2013 Iranian champions, Esteghlal who are two-time winners of the Champions League with the last time being back in 1991.

Olunga will also come up against Al Shorta who have crowned Irai champions back in 2019 and finished runners-up in the tournament back in 1971.

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The draw was conducted on Wednesday, January 27 at the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur as the tournament will be the first to involve 40 teams during the group stage, an increase from the previous 32 teams.

The tournament is divided into the West Region that consists of the 25 associations from the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF), the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF), and the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA).

The East Region consists of the 21 associations from the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) and the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF).

Olunga will be making his debut in the tournament despite playing in the continent for since 2017 albeit a loan move to Girona in the 2017-2018 season.

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During his spell at Chinese club Guizhou Zhicheng and Kashiwa Reysol, Olunga failed to play in Asia’s premier club competition as the teams finished outside the qualifying slots.

Korea Republic's Ulsan Hyundai are the reigning champions of the tournament after they beat Islamic Republic of Iran's Persepolis FC in the 2020 final to lift the trophy for the second time.