By Sports Reporter/Doha
Lekhwiya Head Coach Djamel Belmadi is not taking Al Kharaitiyat lightly when they clash in the Qatar Stars League at the Lekhwiya Stadium tonight.
Belmadi believes Al Kharaitiyat will be out to prove themselves against the four-time Qatar champions after suffering a reverse against Al Rayyan earlier.
“The match against Al Kharaitiyat will be our second in the competition. Al Kharaitiyat are a fierce opponent with good head coach and players. The loss of Al Kharaitiyat to Al Rayyan will motivate their players. Same thing happened with Lekhwiya. We lost to Al Hilal ( in the Asian Champions League), but we came back strongly to win our QSL match against Qatar Sports Club.”
Belmadi was pleased with the performances of Al Rayyan and Al Ahli so far.
“I have to say also that I am happy to see both Al Rayyan and Al Arabi at the top of the league table because they both have a lot of fans which makes the league come alive.”
Al Kharaitiyat head coach Ammar Osim, however was under no illusions about the match against Lekhwiya.
“Lekhwiya are a well-known team with some quality players. It is really difficult to face the best team in the league; therefore we have to be at our very best to achieve a positive result. We played very well against Al Rayyan but we lost despite the fact that we were better. I think Lekhwiya are better than Al Rayyan as they are organised and have won the league many times.”
Meanwhile, Al Sadd, who take on Al Wakrah tomorrow, are also expecting a tough encounter.
“Wakrah will be tough, I am expecting a strong response from them after their loss to Al Ahli,” Al Sadd coach Hussain ammouta said.
“Our aim is to make amends for the draw in the previous match against Umm Salal; we want to win, especially as Al Sadd always seeks to compete for the title.”
The Moroccan added: “We lost our attacking aggression in the last match despite being very good offensively last season. We have to work hard and seriously to perform at our best and get the win, especially as all the teams are playing defensively against us.
Al Wakrah Head Coach Jose Mauricio hopes for a positive result despite the fact some his players are nursing injuries.
“We will be confronting one of the toughest teams in the league in their stadium. We all know the differences between the Qatari teams. Al Sadd are one of the most distinguished teams so I will be focusing on my team rather than on the opponents,” said Mauricio.
“Usually I don’t like to speak about excuses but lots of circumstances weren’t on our side when the league began. After returning from the external training camp in Italy we had 30 players as well as a number of the youth players. But now we are suffering from some injuries. We have to find other solutions especially with the lack of under-23 players available in the next two rounds because of the West Asian tournament. We will continue the hard work; I am hoping to get some positive results in the future.”
ROUND 3 FIXTURES
September 26, 2015
Al Gharafa vs Al Ahli (Qatar SC)
El Jaish vs Al Khor (Lekhwiya)
Lekhwiya vs Al Kharaitiyat (Lekhwiya)
Qatar SC vs Al Arabi (Qatar SC)
September 27, 2015
Mesaimeer vs Al Sailiya (Al Arabi)
Al Sadd vs Al Wakrah (Al Sadd)
Al Rayyan vs Umm Salal (Al Sadd)
