Can FC Goa still qualify for AFC Champions League 2 knockouts after 2-1 defeat vs Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr?

Al-Nassr edged past the Gaurs 2-1 on matchday three.

FC Goa faced a gruelling 2-1 loss against the Saudi Giants in the third matchday of the AFC Champions League Two on the 22nd of October at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Fatorda. After facing two consecutive setbacks against Al-Zawraa and Istiklol, the hard-fought loss against Al Nassr would be a tough pill for the Gaurs to swallow.

Al Nassr, with their attacking prowess, scored two early goals in the 10th minute and 29th minute with the boots of Angelo Gabriel and Haroune Camara, respectively. In the latter part of the first half, the Gaurs pulled back one goal to their account with the services of Brison Fernandes, who displayed his poetry-like moves in the final third to beat the opposition defenders and breach the net to erupt the Fatorda crowd.

Later, in the second half, despite Al Nassr fielding some notable names, including the likes of Sadio Mane and Joao Felix, who did their best to attack, the resilient and impenetrable Goan backline prevented the visitors from scoring further and at full time the game ended on a respectable 1-2 scoreline.

FC Goa remain bottom of the table

With their third consecutive loss in their AFC Champions League Two fixtures, FC Goa have entrenched themselves at the bottom of the table with 0 points and a -5 goal difference. Meanwhile, Al-Nassr, with their third victory of the campaign, comfortably enjoy the position at the top of the table with 9 points and a commanding +8 goal difference.

Istiklol and Al-Zawraa, on the other hand, have sandwiched themselves in the second and third position with six points and three points respectively after a 2-1 game on Wednesday, which favoured the Tajikistan side.

Can FC Goa still qualify for the knockouts?

With the top two teams qualifying for the playoffs, FC Goa will have an uphill task to qualify for the knockout stage following this disappointing situation. Though the Gaurs can progress towards the next round mathematically, the chances of qualification have narrowed down to the tipping point. The qualification now not only rests on the matches of Goa, but will also be dependent on how Istiklol and Al-Zawraa perform in the upcoming matches.

With Istiklol currently resting at the second spot with six points, FC Goa must win its next three matches with a significant margin to overcome them with nine points. Along with that, they must hope for Al-Nassr to win all their matches except against Goa and Al Zawraa to prevail over Istiklol in the reverse fixture, which would prevent the Tajik side from reaching nine points and cause trouble for the Gaurs.

In short, FC Goa can still qualify if things go this way.

• FC Goa – Win all the remaining three matches
• Al-Nassr – Defeat Al Zawraa and Istiklol and lose against Goa
• Istiklol – Drop points in all their remaining matches
• Al-Zawraa – Defeat or draw against Istiklol and lose against Goa and Al Nassr

In this manner, Al Nassr will top the table with 15 points, followed by FC Goa with 9 points and Istiklol and Al Zawraa taking up the 3rd and 4th positions with 6 points each. Though hypothetically possible, the chances of FC Goa qualifying for the knockouts are currently looking haywire and slim.

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