The Dervishes took the game against the semi-finalists quite seriously, although they had been disqualified from the prestigious competition last week.

Ahli, on the other hand, fielded a number of string players that all failed to impress.

But fair refereeing is why Ahli lost to Ismaili on Sunday, according to Dutch tactician Wotte.

"This game proves that unfair refereeing is why we lost our chance to go through," he said after the match.

"We could have won by a much bigger margin today if it wasn't for the opportunities we squandered.

"The game was more important for us of course, we needed a morale boost."

Unexpected Result

Ahli assistant coach Alaa Maihoub admitted that the Red Devils did not expect to lose by such a scoreline.

"The game was good and full of free-flowing football but we didn't expect the result," he said.

"We wanted to rest our key figures and give the opportunity to some substitutes to play.

"After all, the game was beneficial because it exposed our problems, which we will be working on before the advanced stages of the competition."

Ahli are to face Esperance while Kabylie are to take on TP Mazembe in the Champions League semi finals.