Al Sadd need a win over their local rivals Al Rayyan if they are to stay in the title race.
“It’s going to be a close game. No one knows who will win because it’s a Clasico. I hope that my side will perform against our rivals Al Rayyan,” coach Jesualdo Ferreira.
“It was good to have the professional players with us over the international break, Including Abdulkarim Hassan. I hope that the returning players from international duty can hit the ground running and start strongly in the Clasico,” the Portuguese said.
Asked if he felt any pressure about the title race, he said, “I don’t feel any pressure from this game, and the situation. In fact I enjoy it.”
As for Al Rayyan, the 0-5 defeat in their last match would weigh heavily on the mind of head coach Michael Laudrup.
“We have a big game against Al Sadd, who are a great team and are rightly looking to fight for the title. We are looking to do better than we did last time against Al Sadd whilst looking to maintain our third place in the league,” Laudrup said.
“April is going to be an exciting month with the end of the league, two big games in the Champions League and hopefully two games in the Qatar Cup,” the Danish coach added.
Talking mind games, Laudrup suggested the pressure will be on his opponents. “Al Sadd need to win to have a chance in the league. I think it will be a good game, we have improved since the last game and I believe that they respect us.
“Looking at the result on its own last time against Al Sadd does not show the whole story; it was a competitive game until the second half. I don’t believe in revenge but we want to get a result against Al Sadd.”