A ?le photo of Al Rayyan’s training session.
Doha: Al Rayyan have shown gradual improvement since Frenchman Laurent Blanc took over as team’s head coach almost a month ago. But the ‘Lions’ still have a lot to do to be among the top sides in the ongoing QNB Stars League (QSL) season.
Al Sadd, the only unbeaten side this season, are on top with 38 points followed by Al Duhail (27 points), Al Gharafa (24) and Qatar SC (23 points).
Al Rayyan – the last edition’s runners-up – after their win over Qatar SC last weak jumped to fifth spot on basis of a better goal difference over Al Ahli, with 22 points. Their first target is to secure a top three spot before challenging an immaculate Xavi Hernandez-coached Al Sadd.
Today, Al Rayyan will face Al Wakrah and they can leapfrog to third spot with a win, if results of other matches also go in their favour.
Blanc said his team was well prepared for the clash at the Qatar SC Stadium.
“Our preparations have gone well for our clash against Al Wakrah. We are working well as a squad. The players are working a lot to reach discipline and find the required harmony among themselves,” Blanc said yesterday at a pre-match press conference.
“We are up to speed with our new training tactics, but there are some players who are not ready and we need to equip all players through rigorous training and matches we play."
Al Wakrah, coached by Marquez Lopez, are 10th in the table and need some surprising results to improve their standings. They put up a good show last week, holding Umm Salal to a goalless draw.
“We are ready to take on Al Rayyan. Our preparation was not much different from how we usually prepare for our matches in the league. The team showed a good level in the last match (against Umm Salal), which contributed to clearing the minds of the players after the big loss to Al Duhail in the previous week,” Lopez said yesterday.
Al Duhail players prepare for Qatar SC clash.
Al Duhail look to bounce back from Al Sadd defeat
Meanwhile, reigning champions Al Duhail are hoping to bounce back from a 1-3 defeat to Al Sadd as they meet Qatar SC in today’s other match.
“We will be playing our next match against Qatar SC with an aim of collecting three points. We have to be the attacking side during this match because the Qatar SC team is good at moving from defence to attack at high speed. We have to stay focused because if we lose focus, we may have to pay a heavy price,” Al Duhail coach Sabri Lamouchi said yesterday.
“We will look for a victory to compensate for the loss against Al Sadd last week. We know that a difficult match awaits us against Qatar SC. They have high potential and will play against us strongly in order to compensate for their loss against Al Rayyan. Therefore, we have to be fully focused on the field to achieve the desired result,” he added.
Qatar SC, who also lost their last match to Al Rayyan, are looking to make a winning comeback.
“It will be an exciting match against the defending champions considering we both lost our matches in the last round. We have played a series of strong matches in a short period of time, where we played six games within a month, but we are now in a good condition. We have an opportunity to get ready for the next match with the highest degree of concentration,” said Qatar SC coach Younes Ali.
Today’s other match will see Al Arabi clashing with Umm Salal at Al Duhail Stadium.
