Al Hilal boss Simone Inzaghi says Al Shamal defeat ‘hurts’ after fatigue takes toll

Simone Inzaghi said Al Hilal’s 3-1 defeat by Al Shamal in the AFC Champions League Elite was painful, with fatigue contributing to his side’s second-half collapse.

Al Hilal were beaten by the Qatari club at Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor on Tuesday in the third round of the league phase.

“This defeat hurts. It is the third loss since I took charge of the team,” Inzaghi said at his post-match news conference, as reported by the Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat.

The Italian said Al Hilal had produced a strong first-half display but were unable to maintain that level after the interval.

“We played a good first half, but in the second half, because of fatigue, we did not produce the performance expected of us,” he said. “We will return to Riyadh and prepare for our upcoming commitments.”

The defeat came after Inzaghi made several changes to his starting line-up, with the manager explaining that a number of players were unavailable for the trip.

“The only players who were not with us here were Mohammed Mahzari, Cresencio Summerville and Gabriel Martinelli,” he said.

Inzaghi added that Ruben Neves and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic had travelled with the squad in the hope they might be fit enough to feature as substitutes, but neither was ready to play.

“As for Ruben Neves and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, we brought them with us hoping to prepare them at least to sit on the bench,” he said. “Unfortunately, neither of them was ready to participate.”

The Al Hilal manager also praised captain Salem Al-Dawsari, who scored his first goal in his first start of the current season.

Inzaghi also highlighted the performance of Simon Buabri, saying: “I congratulate Salem Al-Dawsari and Simon Buabri on their performances. I am satisfied with them.”