Croatian coach Igor Biscan of Al Ahli stressed the importance of securing a positive result against reigning champions Al Sadd in Thursday's match, which marks the opening of Round 2 in the Doha Bank Stars League.

Speaking to the media ahead of their 2025-2026 season Doha Bank Stars League Week 2 match against Al Sadd, Biscan said, "It is important to achieve a positive result against Al Sadd in the second round of Doha Bank Stars League and show a better performance than in the previous match, which we lost to Al Shamal.

"We will face a tough opponent, the defending champions, so we must be more focused and organized on the field.

"The match will certainly be tough, given the similarity between the two teams' start to the league. However, what is most important to me is that Al Ahli put on a strong performance and perform well against Al Sadd. I have worked to ensure that Al Ahli perform differently from the way they did at the start of the league. The team must have a mentality of performing well and striving for victory," said Biscan.

Speaking to the media ahead of their 2025-2026 season Doha Bank Stars League Week 2 match against Al Ahli, Al Sadd coach Felix Sanchez said, "Our next match is against Al Ahli. We know that they had a very good season last time, finishing in the top four, so we expect a tough match.

"They started the season poorly, just like us, and both teams will play to win. We need to focus on ourselves, keep working, believe in what we're doing and try to achieve our first league win.

"We have to start with the Al Ahli match and try to add points and put ourselves in a position to compete for the top spot in the league," said Sanchez.

Al Ahli player Jassim Mohammed said, "Facing Al Sadd should be different for us. We did not perform at the required level in the previous match and this is an opportunity to correct mistakes and perform better against Al Sadd."

Al Sadd captain Hassan Al Haydous said, "It's a very difficult and important match. Both teams are coming off a loss in the first round. We have to make up for it and please our fans, and that is what we are working on right now.

"The loss to Qatar SC was a surprise to everyone. Our goal was to get the three points against Qatar SC. Luck was not on our side and we will strive to make up for it."