Jens Wissing criticises Al Ittihad players despite late rescue against Al Shamal

Jens Wissing criticised Al Ittihad’s players for their decision-making in the final third after their 1-1 draw with Al Shamal in the AFC Champions League Elite.

Al Ittihad appeared set to suffer their first defeat of the season after falling behind, but Dutch midfielder Jorginho Wijnaldum scored an equaliser in stoppage time to secure a point.

The two sides met on Monday at Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor in the opening round of the competition’s league phase.

Speaking at his post-match news conference, Wissing said the result reflected a difficult contest between two well-matched teams.

“It was a difficult game against a difficult team,” he said, in comments reported by the Saudi newspaper Al Sharq Al Awsat. “We have been through some difficult weeks and it was an uneven game.

“There were chances for both teams. We lacked sharpness and failed to make the right decisions in the attacking third, but I am pleased that we did not lose hope.

“It was a fair draw for both teams. It was not an open game.”

The German manager said Al Ittihad had also failed to deal properly with several promising situations late in attacks, highlighting moments involving Steven Bergwijn and Ahmed Al Ghamdi.

“We did not make the right decisions in the final third, including in the situations involving Steven Bergwijn and Ahmed Al Ghamdi,” Wissing added. “We did not handle them in the way required.”

He also felt his team had been missing the finishing touch, rather than a lack of opportunities.

“What we were missing was the luck to score,” he said. “We lost the final decision, while the opponents were good. We had some good situations, but we did not make the most of them in the final third. It is about the decisions.”

The draw came as Al Ittihad reached their first break from competitive action after more than a month of matches. Wissing welcomed the timing of the pause and said the squad would use it to recover before returning to training.

“The break has come at the right time after this period,” he said. “We will rest and then return to work.”

Wissing said the team still had several areas to improve, but insisted that the immediate priority was recovery rather than looking ahead.

“There are many aspects we want to develop,” he said. “We will think about resting now, and after the break we will have a big game to think about later.”