The QNB Stars League will step into the second phase today, with Al Sadd looking primed for the title. The Wolves have a seven-point lead over Al Gharafa and are the only side unbeaten in the competition. To say they are a notch above their opponents, is stating obvious.  
Sadd begin the second half of the league at home with a seemingly easy game against Al Kharaitiyat, who are bottom of the table with just six points. Kharaitiyat have won just two matches so far and have suffered the most number of defeats in the top flight.
But Sadd coach Xavi Hernandez refused to take Kharaitiyat lightly, urging his players to take the game seriously. “We play against the bottom-placed team in the table, but they are a good team. I respect their coach Yousef Adam very much. He performed well and I think that he is a very good coach who does a great job. His team deserves more points and does not deserve to be in the last place. We had done good work in the first leg of the tournament and we must continue the same way,” Xavi said yesterday.  
“The match against Al Kharaitiyat will be difficult because all clubs are playing with a lot of motivation against Al Sadd, so we have to be careful and not complacent so that we do not lose points. We have to respect them, also because they have a good team and good players, and it will be difficult to get the three points,” he added.
Al Sadd will be without their stars Akram Afif and Boualem Khoukhi as they are suffering from coronavirus infection. The duo missed Al Sadd’s 1-1 draw against Qatar SC last week.
In another match today, Al Rayyan take on Al Sailiya. Last season’s runners-up Al Rayyan got back to winning ways under new coach Laurent Blanc as they beat Al Khor 1-0 last week. The Frenchman had lost his first game in Qatar when Al Rayyan lost to Al Sadd 0-1 in the Qatar Clasico.
As the tournament’s second leg kicks off, Al Rayyan will be keen to lift their game by several notches in their bid to regain the league shield. The Lions are placed sixth with 16 points.
Blanc expected a difficult game against Al Sailiya. “Our next match against Al Sailiya is difficult and we hope to get out of it with a positive result like our last game against Al Khor. But we must keep providing our best in order to achieve the victory that we are preparing the team for,” the 55-year-old coach said. 
“With regard to the problem of wasting opportunities, we will work to solve it and develop the team’s performance in general and score goals not only through the attackers, but also through the defenders,” added Blanc.
Al Sailiya are eighth in the table with 12 points with Sami Trabelsi’s men suffering from a slump in form of late. They slipped by one place after their loss to Al Arabi last week. But Al Sailiya are able to cause an upset on their day, like they did when they stunned Al Duhail.
Trabelsi conceded his players are not in the best form of late. “What makes the encounter more difficult is that Al Rayyan are playing to win as part of their attempt to compete for the top, and it is a strong and excellent team that has high-level players. They always remain as one of the big clubs in the Qatar league. Therefore, the match will not be easy. Especially since we are not in our best conditions of late,” he said.
“But at the same time, I trust the group of players who are with us and we believe in their ability to achieve a positive result, especially since we put up strong performances against big teams, and it will be a difficult match for both teams. There is no room for complacency and we should not waste points, Trabelsi added. 
Elsewhere, Al Ahli face Al Wakrah at the Al Arabi Stadium. Nebojsa Jovovic-coached Al Ahli, who had lost 3-5 to reigning champions Al Duhail in the last round, will be looking to get back into top four, having also led the league at one stage. Qatar SC and Al Ahli are tied on 19 points, but the former were placed fourth on better goal difference Al Ahli thus slipped from third to fifth place.
Al Wakrah are seventh in the table with 13 points as they earned a promotion of one position following their 2-1 victory over Al Kharaitiyat. Marquez Lopez’s men will have a tough task on hand against fifth placed Al Ahli.