Last chance for Al Rayyan to salvage pride, season

The perfect script has been written till this stage of the Emir Cup. The top four teams of Qatar have ended up in the semi-finals. This straight shoot-out between the nation’s best outfits promises to be an entertaining and competitive affair. The first clash will take place today between Al Rayyan and Lekhwiya at the Jassim bin Hamad stadium (Al Sadd Sports Club).
Rayyan, the Qatar Stars League champions last season, will face the team who dominated them in 2017. After a blitzkrieg of a season last time around, Al Rayyan, under their new coach Michael Laudrup, seem to be still finding their rhythm. They finished in third position in the League, 12 points off champions Lekhwiya. In the Qatar Cup, they lost to Al Sadd in the semi-finals. In the AFC Champions League, they lost a close match to Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal and were ousted from the competition.  
The Emir Cup then presents a great opportunity for Al Rayyan to win silverware and end the season on a high. This should act as added motivation when they take the field today, with coach Laudrup saying his players were extremely motivated for the game. “There’s no need for special motivation for my players. The regular season is done. The players know that they can focus on two more games and get a break. Hopefully we will be able to get to the final,” said Laudrup during the pre-match press conference.
Winning the Emir Cup is a matter of prestige and with the top four teams in the fray it will be a close fight for the trophy. “The Emir Cup is a big competition here. And this season we have the top four teams in the semi-finals. We have to win two big games. It will be a tense affair,” said the Dane.
“We’re playing the QSL champions. They have had a good season. But I know that my players will do everything they can to win this game,” he added.
The two QSL games between these two rivals have ended in draws. And Laudrup believes that this will be another close affair. “The two games that we played in the QSL were very tight games. I predict that this one will be more of the same.”
For Lekhiwya, things have clicked quite well this season. They won the QSL title and have dominated their AFC Champions League group to progress to the Round of 16. Their striker Youssef el-Arabi has scored the most goals in the QSL. They have a strong midfield in Nam Tae-hee and Karim Boudiaf.
Lekhwiya, who won the Emir Cup last year for the first time, have the momentum coming into this tie but coach Djamel Belmadi was wary of his big-name opponents.
“Rayyan are a big club. And big clubs have to win every year. We won the Emir Cup last season when we were not having a good season. Rayyan will put everything in this match,” said Belmadi.
“The game will be tougher because they were the QSL champions last year. They lost the title. And they have also been ousted from the Champions League. They will put all their hope in this competition,” he added.  
However, the high-profile nature of the clash and the competition itself will inspire his players, believes Belmadi. “Sometimes for these big games you don’t have to talk to the players a lot. They know how amazing it is to win this competition. They won it for the first time last season. It’s in our blood. We want to win every match,” said the Algerian.
Lekhiwya lost to El Jaish in the semi-finals of the Qatar Cup so they will be keen to win this tournament and bag an impressive double. And they will be looking to emulate Al Sadd who won back to back Emir Cup titles in 2014 and 2015.
“This competition is amazing. The teams play on a very high level. We’re playing a tough opponent and it will be an exciting game. We won the trophy last year and it’s always good to keep the trophy,” said Belmadi.
“It’s been a good season for us so far. And I hope this is a good season can become a great season,” he added.
Now to see which team have the fire within them to put that extra effort to win the tie and get closer to winning the elegant trophy.