Third placed Al Rayyan will be looking to maintain their position when they take on Al Khor today in the last round of the Qatar Stars League.
Lions boss Michael Laudrup spoke to the local media ahead of the tie, saying it will be a stern test for his players.
“The game has changed now for Al Khor, the pressure is off them now but both sides will still be looking to win the match and end the domestic season well. Al Khor defeated us earlier in the season 2-1 and we will be aiming to avenge this defeat,” said Laurdup.
“We have not won our last two games, but we have played well against Al Arabi and Persepolis (in the ACL). Now we need to keep up the momentum going into tough games in the Qatar Cup and AFC Champions league,” added the Danish coach.
Laudrup said there will be a few changes in the team. “Sebastian (Soria) will be absent through suspension and we will be looking at changing the players who have played in recent games. One change will be Musa Haroon who will play at centre back.”
Al Khor are now safe from the threat of relegation, following the merger of El Jaish and Lekhwiya from next season and coach Jean Fernandez was pretty pleased about that.
“We have achieved our goal of surviving this season, and we will have a tough match against an Al Rayyan side who have done very well in the AFC Champions League this season,” he said.
Fernandez ended the press conference stating his aims for the remainder of the season. “Now we are safe, we will use this match as preparation for the Emir Cup. We defeated Al Rayyan last time in the league and we are aiming to beat them again, which will be a real achievement for my side,” added the French coach.
Meanwhile, Al Sailiya take on already-relegated Al Wakrah with an opportunity to end their season on a high. Peregrines coach Sami Trabelsi was taking nothing for granted despite the fact that Wakrah have been relegated.
“We are now focusing on this match against Al Wakrah, a side who has been relegated already. However they will now be without any pressure and will be a dangerous side. They showed this when they played against Umm Salal last weekend,” said Trablesi.
“We lost 24 points against the sides around us in the league, and this will need to be improved drastically next season. I am not satisfied with our performance this season. It was a tough first half of the season but we improved from round 16 after we brought in players. I hope we don’t repeat the same mistakes next season,” added the Tunisian coach.
Trabelsi ended the press conference, stressing that his side need a repeat performance from Al Sailiya’s last game against second placed Al Sadd. “The last match against Al Sadd, we played well and we will need to have the same level of performance when we take on Wakrah on Friday.”
Meanwhile, Al Wakrah are set to end the campaign at the bottom of the QSL standings, and will be targeting a morale-boosting win ahead of the new season in the second
division.
Blue Waves boss Kais Yaakoubi said: “This weekend’s match is preparation for the Emir Cup now. It’s been a tough campaign overall. Now that our fate is confirmed we have to push on till the end of the season. Then we will discuss my future with the club administration.”
Al Rayyan coach Michael Laudrup (R) addresses media yesterday.
