After two seasons at the MHSK Stadium, the Tashkent side return to the Pakhtakor Stadium seeking payback for a pair of 2-0 defeats suffered at the hands of the Saudis in the Champions League in 2007.

The two losses sent Al Hilal through to last eight at the expense of Pakhtakor, who have failed to qualify for the knockout stage the last four years after reaching the semi-finals in the first two editions of the competition.

The Uzbek outfit’s hopes of ending that disappointing run have been boosted by their 2-1 win over United Arab Emirates League leaders Al Ahli in Dubai last week, courtesy of goals by Odil Ahmedov and Zaynitdin Tadjiyev and a penalty save from Ignatiy Nesterov.

Pakhtakor fans would relish victory against the side that ended their hopes in the competition two years ago and coach Victor Djalilov is determined to see his charges achieve that objective.

“We respect all of our opponents in the group but we do not intend to miss out on the knock-out stage again,” said the Pakhtakor boss, whose team are well rested after not being involved in Uzbekistan Cup action last weekend.

“We are very familiar with Saudi teams and we know how difficult it is to play against them. But we will try to prepare some surprises for Al Hilal.”

Al Hilal began their campaign with a 1-1 home draw against Iran’s Saba Battery last Wednesday in a match postponed 24 hours due to a sandstorm in Riyadh.

The team arrived in Tashkent on Sunday with injury concerns over Swedish midfielder Christian Wilhelmsson, Romanian defender Mirel Radoi and midfielder Khaled Aziz although all three are expected to be fit for Tuesday.

Necula Catalin is still seeking his first win as Al Hilal coach after seeing his side draw both matches since taking charge following the sudden dismissal of Romanian compatriot Cosmin Olaroiu three weeks ago.

“The game against Pakhtakor will be very hard because we are playing away and Pakhtakor are a strong side,” said Catalin.

“We have lost two points from our draw at home in the first game but I think we can make a big comeback.

“Al Hilal are a big side and we usually play well away from home so I’m confident that we can get a good result.

“However it will not be easy and we must work hard in our next five matches.”