According to "Varzesh 3", Esteghlal's return trip to Rashid Stadium recalls the Blues' last encounter with Al Ahli Dubai in the UAE, but to fully review the history of matches against Shabab Al Ahli, one must go back a bit further. Today's Shabab Al Ahli club was formed by the merger of Al Ahli, Al Shabab Al Arabi, and Dubai Club, and Esteghlal has previously played against two main pillars of this entity.
The first part of this history dates back to the 2013 AFC Champions League. In the round of 16 first leg, Esteghlal was a guest of Al Shabab Al Arabi at Maktoum bin Rashid Stadium and, despite conceding the first goal, put on a magnificent second half. J Lloyd Samuel, Javad Nekounam, Farhad Majidi, and Khosro Heydari scored to give Amir Ghalenoei's team a 4-2 victory. A week later, Esteghlal protected its valuable lead at Azadi Stadium and, with a scoreless draw, eliminated Al Shabab 4-2 on aggregate.
Four years later, Esteghlal faced Al Ahli Dubai this time. The first leg of the 2017 Champions League group stage was held at Rashid Stadium, and Makhete Diop put the hosts ahead in the final minutes of the first half. Omid Ebrahimi scored the equalizer in the 74th minute, but Diop opened Esteghlal's goal again in the 89th minute to give Al Ahli a 2-1 win.
In the return match at Azadi Stadium, Al Ahli also scored first, and Kaveh Rezaei made it 1-1 in the second half from Khosro Heydari's cross. Despite intense pressure to score the second goal, Esteghlal failed to defeat the opponent and ended its two games against Al Ahli with one draw and one defeat.
Less than a month after that match, Al Ahli, Al Shabab Al Arabi, and Dubai Club merged to form Shabab Al Ahli Club. For this reason, the statistics of Esteghlal's matches against the current team have two narratives. If only the name Shabab Al Ahli is considered, the upcoming match is the first official clash between the two teams, but considering the roots of the Emirati club, the previous four matches are also part of this history.
The outcome of those four matches for Esteghlal has been one victory, two draws, and one defeat. The Blues have scored six goals and conceded five. Esteghlal's only win is that high-scoring victory against Al Shabab in 2013, and the two matches against Al Ahli brought no wins for the Iranian representative.
Now, after 9 years, Esteghlal is facing Shabab Al Ahli again at Rashid Stadium, the very ground where Diop's late goal prevented the Blues from leaving Dubai with points. Of course, due to AFC decisions and holding matches on neutral ground, the Blues hosted Saudi Arabia's Al Nassr and Uzbekistan's Pakhtakor at this very Rashid Stadium two years ago, and prior to that they also played against Kuwait's Al Kuwait in this stadium, but the clash against the merged Shabab Al Ahli in this stadium is repeated after 9 years.
Source: Varzesh 3
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