AFC Champions League: Top scorer Boulbina saves a point for Al Duhail

Algeria national team forward Adil Boulbina took advantage of a second chance as he converted a late penalty kick to give Qatari club Al Duhail a point against UAE Pro League side Al Sharjah in the AFC Champions League Elite.

After a foul was committed in the Al Sharjah penalty area, the Paradou AC youth product fired in an 81st minute equalizer in a 1-1 draw at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha. He increases his lead to three goals at the top of the Champions League scoring charts with 7 goals in 7 matches, boosting his totals in all competitions to 11 goals and 5 assists in 20 matches.

The Algerian had his initial effort from the post denied by Sharjah goalkeeper Adel Al Hosani but VAR intervened on Boulbina’s behalf to penalize Al Hosani for coming off his line too early. A more powerful spot kick on the second attempt got the job done to save a point for the hosts.

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— Al Duhail SC | نادي الدحيل (@DuhailSC) February 9, 2026

A tight race for a spot in the AFC Champions League knockout stage

The forward and his club still have work to do to advance to the competition’s Round of 16. They are currently tied for 7th on the 12-team table in the western region of Asia’s premier club competition, equal with Sharjah on eight points.

While a top-8 position is good enough to advance, fellow Qatari clubs Al Gharafa (six points) and Al Sadd (five points) each have a match in hand and could cut the gap or overtake Duhail.

They will return to domestic action with an Emir Cup clash against second tier club Al Waab before returning to continental duty with their Champions League main phase finale at Iraq’s Al Shorta next Monday.