Lucescu: We did not take advantage of our perfect moments against Al-Hilal, and we lacked something important

Asked whether the clash with Al Hilal, the club he previously coached, carried any special feelings for him, Lucescu replied: "When we are inside the pitch and before we prepare for the match, we do not think about such feelings or memories. Those memories remain present in our minds."

"I fully realise how important that era was, but when we enter the atmosphere of the match, the feelings are confined only to how we prepare and set ourselves up for the game," he went on.

Lucescu then saluted the physical and organisational display Al Hilal put together. "I believe that teams on the pitch have their own style of play, and they have a plan, organisation, counter-attacks and a particular momentum," said the Romanian. "I saw in front of me a team that entered the game with great motivation, and which has many players capable of running and covering spaces, so they were not affected by the temperatures."

"Sometimes you may be affected by the weather conditions and at other times you are not, and that depends entirely on how much motivation you have," he added.

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Lucescu pointed out that Al Sadd are going through a difficult phase after the long break, explaining: "We too are going through a strange period after this long break, especially with some players returning from injury and not yet having reached their peak physical readiness."

"Practically speaking, we are now relaunching the work and effort we put in during the summer preparation period, but under different circumstances this time," he added.

Results come from the pitch, not the analysis. That was the Romanian's message: "Matches are always decided out on the green rectangle. What I have sensed and seen from our team is high spirit and strong motivation. We have only lacked fortune or good finishing in the final touch, because the effort the players put in on the pitch was very good in those moments."

His parting words: "At times like these, we lack momentum and for circumstances to run in our favour, and for us to stop conceding goals from the first mistake we make. Faced with such situations and circumstances, all we can do is react strongly, confront and fight on the pitch."