A Start Incomparable to the Previous Season / Esteghlal Earn Two-Thirds of Last Promotion Points in 180 Minutes!

In the first two matches of the AFC Champions League Elite, Esteghlal have earned two-thirds of the total points they collected in their last appearance, when they advanced to the knockout stage.

According to "Verzeh Se", the two-one victory against Al-Gharafa completed the perfect start of Esteghlal in the new season of the Asian Elite League. After defeating Al Sadd 3-0, the Blues defeated the second representative of Qatar to be one of the best teams at the beginning of the tournament with six full points.

In its last appearance in the Asian Elite League during the 2024-25 season, Esteghlal played eight matches and gained nine points with two wins, three draws and three losses. In the end, this team stood in the sixth place of the West region and won the right to participate in the final 18th stage.

In that period, after the victory of the first week against Al-Gharafa, the Blues lost three consecutive matches and then reached six points with three consecutive draws. Esteghlal waited until the end of the seventh match to reach six points, and in the final week, with the defeat of Al-Ryan, they increased their points to nine.

Now Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh's students have scored the same six points in the first 180 minutes. Esteghlal scored five goals in two matches, conceded only one goal and collected two thirds of the total points of their last promotion from the league stage.

Of course, due to the change in the number of teams present in the western region and numerous competitions remaining, six points cannot be considered enough for promotion. However, this time Esteghlal has taken steps to be among the top teams in the table and no longer has to postpone the compensation of the lost points to the final weeks like in the previous period.