With top guns Al Duhail and Al Sadd not playing the third round of the QNB Stars League due to AFC Champions League commitments, Al Rayyan will have a chance to go top of the standings when they face Qatar SC today.
After two rounds, Sadd are on top of the standings with two points ahead of Al Ahli, while Duhail are fourth after they were stunned by Al Wakrah in the last round. Rayyan defeated Gharafa last week after a sluggish draw against Al Sailiya in their opener. Now they have a chance to pull ahead, with Duhail and Sadd slated to play their third round match at later date.
The Lions coach Diego Aguirre said his team will look to build on from their win against Gharafa. “The team’s morale is high after the victory over Al Gharafa. We will try to go into the break with an important victory and seek to benefit from it in the best possible way,” said Aguirre yesterday.
“We must be fully focused on the game and our players should not spare any effort, so we can obtain the three points and continue on the winning path, having picked up our first victory last week, against Al Gharafa,” the Uruguayan added.
Qatar SC, who occupy the bottom position, are the only side yet to open their account in terms of points, having lost 0-2 to Al Gharafa and 1-2 to Al Kharaitiyat last week.
Aguirre sounded caution of Qatar SC’s poor form and said their opponents would be eager to bounce back.
“There is no doubt that the league does not have an easy match. Whatever the difference in points and other matters between the teams, the competition on the pitch will be equal. And there is no doubt that Qatar SC will not be a pushover side, especially since they are coming from two back-to-back losses. So their main goal will be to compensate for it,” Aguirre said
Meanwhile, Qatar SC had dropped many points in the first leg last season, but they more than made up for it with a series of positive results in the tournament’s latter session to eventually end up in eighth position.
Qatar SC coach Younis Ali urged his players to show fighting spirit against Rayyan. “We need our players to show the fighting spirit and we need more time to change the players’ psychological aspects. We hope we will fix many things in a short span of time,” he said.
“Our match against Al Rayyan is very difficult because it is against a team that competed for the title till the last round last season. They will try to make up for it in the current season and we look at this match in a different way. We are not on the winning path for a long time. I waited for a great reaction from the players, especially since we are in a new season and the players should look forward to a different look for the current season,” he added.
In other matches today, Al Sailiya take on Al Kharaitiyat, while Al Wakrah face Umm Salal. Tomorrow, Al Ahli play Al Khor, with Al Gharafa facing Al Arabi.
Al Rayyan coach Diego Aguirre (left) and striker Yacine Brahimi, who won the QFA Best Coach and Top Scorer awards respectively, celebrate with the team during a felicitation ceremony.
