Al Sadd's coach Xavi, Ali Asad and the Club's General Manager Turki Nasser Al Ali posing for a photograph after signing the contract.
For most of the teams, finishing the prestigious QNB Stars League (QSL) among the top-4 sides is a big achievement. But, for Al Sadd – who will be dethroned this year – finishing as No.1 only brings them joy.
The Wolves are the most successful side in premier event’s history clinching the title 14 times including their previous year’s triumph. However, they will finish third this year with Al Duhail and Al Rayyan competing for the crown in the last round starting today.
Al Duhail have 49 points and they will seal the title if they defeat Al Ahli tomorrow, while Al Rayyan (48 points) – who will take on Al Wakrah – will be hoping for luck to be on their side to win the league.
The best Al Sadd (44 points) can do is to finish the QSL on a winning note by beating Al Gharafa in their final game at Al Janoub Stadium today. In 21 rounds, Al Sadd won 14 games and drew 2 besides losing 5 games including a couple of upsets.
“It’s a pity that we couldn’t win this title. I think we lost it due to our own mistakes,” Al Sadd head coach Xavi Hernandez told reporters ahead of game against Al Gharafa.
“We cannot be happy, Al Sadd is not to finish in third place. We are disappointed, we didn’t compete well. So we have to prepare well for the next one and we have to play much better.”
“It was a pity, during that part of the season after the Champions League exit, when we lost three games in a row. It was a really tough period for us and that’s why we were not able to compete until the end in this competition,” he added.
Xavi said winning the QSL will be his team’s main target next season.
“We want to win the League. This is one of our main goals for the next season. I think we are a better team than before. We have more options to play with, in all the positions on the pitch.”
“So we are ready, ready to compete. Last season was good – not very good, not excellent, because we could not win the league, but we won the Sheikh Jassim Cup, the Qatar Cup and we are in the semi-finals of the Ooredoo Cup and the Amir Cup. We have to compete for all the competitions and we are ready for that,” he added.
Speaking on today’s game against Al Gharafa, Xavi said his team want to sign off the league with victory.
“We won the last 4 games in a row, and we want to continue like that, knowing the difficulty (of the game) because it’s Al Gharafa, who are 4th in the table and (their coach) Jokanovic is doing very well. The team improved a lot this season and they have good players.”
Meanwhile, Al Gharafa coach Slavisa Jokanovic, who side has 35 points, said his team will still fight for the points against Al Sadd.
“We are facing Al Sadd, one the best teams in the league. We look forward towards continuing our good run and make further progress. It is an important challenge and really an important test for my team because we have the chance to know where we are when we face the strongest teams in the league.”
Four teams - Qatar SC (ninth with 19 points), Umm Salal (17), Al Khor (16) and Al Shahania (15) – are involved in the fight to avoid either relegation or play-off in the final round.
In today’s other games, Umm Salal will play against Al Sailiya (fifth with 28 points) while Al Khor meet Al Shahania. Qatar SC face Al Arabi (seventh with 25 points) tomorrow.
