Al Duhail coach Walid Regragui
The Week 20 of the QNB Stars League (QSL) begins tomorrow with exciting matches including a crunch battle between heavyweights Al Duhail and Al Sadd.
With three rounds to go in the league, Al Duhail lead the points standings with 46 points, four points ahead of second-placed Al Rayyan, with Al Sadd trailing them by eight points. A win for Al Duhail or even a draw in the high-octane encounter will take reigning champions Al Sadd out of the title race, which already seems an improbable task for the Wolves.
While Al Sadd are looking to ‘fight until the last minute’, Al Duhail are completely focused on winning the title, which makes Saturday’s game between the star-studded teams at Al Sadd Stadium an eagerly-awaited. Both sides have shown winning form in previous round, with Al Duhail thrashing Al Gharafa 2-0 and Al Sadd edging out Al Ahli 1-0.
Xavi Hernandez-coached Al Sadd are taking all their remaining matches as ‘finals’, and they have vowed to go all out for victory in their remaining fixtures.
“It’s really difficult to win this league because we can’t depend on just ourselves but until the end, we will compete. This is Al Sadd, we are winners and we will compete until the last minute,” said Xavi.
Al Duhail regained form in Al Gharafa match after a shock draw against relegation-threatened Umm Salal in Week 18.
Al Duhail coach Walid Regragui has been telling his ranks to remain focused to win the title.
"Now it is not easy, we need confidence and patience. We have to fight and play without pressure, and I have big confidence in all players,” Regragui told media before their 2-0 win over Al Gharafa.
“We certainly learned the lesson from Umm Salal and played with the strategy put by the coaching team. I hope we will win the points of the remaining matches and win the championship title," said Al Duhail star Ismael Mohamed.
Meanwhile, tomorrow’s main match, which will kick of Week 20, will be played between Al Rayyan and sixth-placed Al Sailiya (25 points).
Al Rayyan, who are strongly in contention for the title, will be hoping to register victory after a draw against Al Arabi in the previous round, while Al Sailiya will be targeting an upset to stay in hunt for a top-four finish. Al Wakrah and Al Arabi will square off in tomorrow’s other match.
Friday’s matches will see Al Gharafa (31 points) going all out against Al Khor to consolidate their fourth position, which will earn them a place in the Qatar Cup and chance in next year’s AFC Champions League.
The clashes between Al Shahania (last with 14 points) vs Qatar SC (ninth with 18 points) as well as Umm Salal (10th with 16 points) vs Al Ahli (eighth with 19 points) will also have much at stake, in terms of relegation and improvement in the teams’ rankings.
