We will strive to be at our best, says Al Sadd coach Juanma

Al Sadd coach Juan Manuel Lillo Juanma yesterday said his team will be aiming to deliver a winning performance against arch-rivals Al Rayyan today.
Juanma was speaking to the media ahead of their 2022-2023 season QNB Stars League Week 9 match against Al Rayyan (Qatar Clasico).
“Now we miss another large group of players who are with the national team in the Gulf Cup. The team must be stronger with the return of some players and we will strive to be at our best,” Juanma said yesterday.
“Looking at the 2022 FIFA World Cup from our point of view, we were more enthusiastic and passionate because we had a large number of players in the tournament.
“Regarding training, we had to complete the team with young players for more than a month and a half and, despite that, I think it was good.
“We will face a good competitor with good players, it will be a very difficult match and we need to see what the situation of our team will be with the absence of many players who are still with the national team. At the same time, some have returned but at different times, so we have to see how the situation is.
Al Sadd player Jung Woo-Young said yesterday: “We will play in the upcoming matches of the league championship with full force after the return of most of the team members who represented their countries in the World Cup. Before the World Cup, we lost many points and now it is time to add points to our tally.
“From now on, we need to win all matches. The Qatar Clasico against Al Rayyan is the start for us and we have to win this match. There are no other options.
“Ahead of the World Cup, we did not have the services of Qatar national team players and many young players gained experience and this is a good thing for the team. Now, the national team players have returned and we can play in a better way like last season as we used to and we need to win all matches.”
Al Rayyan coach Nicolas Cordova warned his players to be ready for a tough match.
“After winning, the work will be different and the most important thing is that we know that we will face a very strong competitor, one of the strongest teams in the league. And we must be in the best readiness to provide the best performance. We must know that the team is suffering especially on the front of professional players,” Cordova said
“The winter transfer period is an opportunity to strengthen the team. We have a shortage of foreign professional players, especially in the offensive line, and we must include players. We also have a shortage at the level of local players and we need three players to strengthen the defence.
“We have an absence of players who are with Al Annabi in the Gulf Cup, four players in the player development project in Europe and some others in the youth team who are very important to us. We miss a large number of players, be they local or foreign professionals, and the lack of players was one of the reasons for the team’s low position in the table and it is difficult to compete in their absence.
“Winning (over Al Sailiya) is a great incentive to prepare for the match in a better way. With accuracy and high quality in training and match, we hope that we will be ready for this match and win,” said Cordova.
Al Rayyan goalkeeper Ivanildo Rodriguez said yesterday: “We are ready, and the team has prepared well, and we know that this match is very important. We will miss an important player in Dame Traore, but we hope to perform well in this game.”
In other matches today, Al Duhail face Umm Salal (4:20pm) at Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium while Qatar SC face Al Gharafa at the same venue (6:30pm).