DOHA: Al Duhail can dethrone Al Sadd to regain the QNB Stars League (QSL) title if they manage to beat the Wolves at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium in the ‘clash of the season’ tomorrow, Thursday, but the Wolves will be determined to postpone the Red Knights’ title celebrations.
The Hernan Crespo-coached Al Duhail are leading the points tally with 48 points while reigning champions Al Sadd are on 41 points. Al Arabi with 43 points are the other team chasing title glory, but they will have to score heavily apart from winning their remaining two games if they are to challenge Al Duhail while wishing for an Al Sadd win or a draw tomorrow.
“We have a match that speaks for itself and everyone knows its importance for us in order to win the league title. We will face a distinguished team and the match will be a new challenge for us, and we are ready for it,” coach Crespo said today during a pre-match press conference ahead of the all-important meeting.
“We had to overcome many difficulties this season. We missed a large number of our international players as well as injuries that deprived us of the services of a number of our players for long periods. The absence of Edmilson made us learn a lot and in our next match, we will not be complacent. The players will continue their strong performance on the field,” Crespo said.
“The players must remain calm, understand the importance of the match and show their strong personality, as they had in previous matches,” the Argentinian tactician said.
His opposite number, Juan Manuel Lillo, despite his team being out of contention for the prestigious Falcon Shield said his team will do its best to win tomorrow’s match.
“As we always say, we will do our best to try to win the match, regardless of the opponents. We try to compete and win all matches,” Lillo said, adding: “We know that we lost our chance to win the league title, but we will do our best against Al Duhail to continue collecting points and progressing in the standings.”
“Regarding the Al Sadd vs Al Duhail face-off, which is the fourth this season, I would say that it can happen that the two biggest teams face each other more than twice a season, in the league and other tournaments. We respect Al Duhail and we will do our best to achieve victory,” Lillo said.
Meanwhile, Al Arabi, who have an outside chance of winning the title, will meet Al Gharafa in a must-win game at the Grand Hamad Stadium.
If Al Arabi manage to secure all six remaining points, and if Al Duhail lose their remaining matches, the Younes Ali-coached team can win the title on points. However, one more point for Al Duhail will put both of them on par at 49 points, meaning the Dream Team will fall short in terms of the number of goals scored.
“We are ready to face Al Gharafa in the next round. Yes, the recent loss against Al Wakrah frustrated me, but despite everything, we will fight until our last breath in the league,” Ali said ahead of today’s crucial clash.
“We will face a good team that is noted for offensive power and we must enter the match with full concentration in order to seal the three points,” Ali said.
Qatar SC and Al Ahli SC will meet in the other fixture tomorrow, May 4.
