Pressure on Duhail as Sadd chase record 14th title

The pressure will be on Al Duhail when they face leaders Al Sadd in a high-octane QNB Stars League clash today. The defending champions must not lose to Sadd at home and if they do, they will concede the title. The 13-time champions Sadd, undoubtedly, will go into the match as favourites with Jesualdo Ferreira’s men holding a four-point lead over their main rivals. They have also beaten Duhail 3-1 at home this season. A victory today would give Sadd an unassailable lead, with only two more rounds of action remaining. For Duhail, a victory would keep them still within a chance to retain the title. Duhail, formerly known as Lekhwiya, have dominated the domestic football winning six league titles since making their debut in 2010-11. Last season they won a domestic treble and were going great guns in the Champions League as well before injuries derailed their campaign. For Sadd, Baghdad Bounedjah and Jung Woo-young both returned to training after the end of their national duty during the international break. They also have experience of Spaniard’s Xavi Hernandez and Gabi Fernandez in the midfield as well as Qatar internationals Hassan al-Haydous, Akram Afif, Asia’s best player Abdelkarim Hassan, goalkeeper Saad al-Dossari and Boualem Khoukhi.Striker Yousef El Arabi, the last two seasons’ league top scorer, will spearhead Al Duhail’s attack. They also have in their ranks Paolo Edmilson, Shoya Nakajima, Amin Lecomte, Mehdi Benatia, Bassam Al Rawi, Ahmed Yasser, Karim Boudiaf, Luis Martin and Almoez Ali, who returned from an injury layoff. Gabi was excited with the prospect of winning the title at Duhail. “The game is not decisive; we have a greater chance of winning the league than Al Duhail. At Al Sadd, we deal with such games with full intelligence. We have excellent players, who are among the best in the league,” he said.“We started working from the start of the season and we deserve to be crowned as champions. We hope the fans will come in numbers to support us, to help us get the win, which although not decisive will be important. I want to win the title on Saturday and I cannot wait for the last two games. The score of this game will be small and it may not go beyond one or two goals. We just hope to win the title and be crowned as champions,” he added.Meanwhile, Al Duhail’s Portuguese coach Rui Faria is desperate to avoid defeat. “Our preparations have been just like how we prepare for each match. We know how important this encounter is and the strength of the Al Sadd team. They are the leaders of QNB Stars League and are putting up outstanding performances,” he said.“There’s going to be only one result and we are going to chase victory. We have had a good season generally. If the numbers allow you to still chase the title, it is possible. We like to keep the memories of good scenes. “The season is far from finish. We want to reduce the gap in points in our bid to retain the title. While Al Sadd want to decide the championship with this match, we are preparing our players to show the level required of them and achieve the desired result, and we hope to get the three points and achieve victory,” he added.Meanwhile, Al Gharafa and Al Rayyan face off in another match today. Both teams will go into the game on a confident note, having won in the previous round. Al Gharafa defeated Al Arabi 2-1 and Al Rayyan beat Al Khor 1-0. The match is important for both teams, for different reasons.Al Rayyan are currently third with 33 points and they cannot afford to drop points if they are to stay in the top-four bracket. For Al Gharafa, the three points from a victory will help them a lot to improve their position as they are lying seventh with 22 points.The Cheetahs are unlikely to finish among the top four this time, unlike they did last season when they edged out Umm Salal in the last round to finish fourth. It may be noted that Al Sailiya, who are presently placed fourth, already have 31 points, the maximum number Al Gharafa can collect even if they win all three of their remaining games. Midfielder Daniel Goumou, who was missing in action for some time with an injury, is back in the Al Rayyan fold. His presence is sure to add strength to their midfield.Also today, Al Ahli have a tough task on hand when they face Al Arabi. The match, dubbed ‘Hilal Derby’ because both clubs are located in that area, is a fight between sides vying to storm into the top four. Al Ahli are going through a lean patch of late after a good run before the league took a long winter break. The Brigadiers had defeated Al Kharaitiyat when the action resumed in Week 16, but they have not won a match since then, having lost to Al Sailiya and Al Duhail respectively. Ahli, who had a change of coach with Spaniard Ruben de la Barrera replacing Czech Milan Macala during the winter break, are fifth in the table with 30 points.