Tribune News Network
Doha
Al Duhail and Al Rayyan in a highly-anticipated clash of Week 2 of the 2024-2025 season Ooredoo Stars League at the Khalifa International Stadium on Friday at 8.30pm.
Contests between these two teams in the top flight domestic league have consistently exhibited a high level of intensity and rivalry, attributed to the exceptional talent of their players. Both teams have had a winning start to their campaigns and will seek to keep up the momentum.
Al Rayyan coach Poya Asbaghi addressing the media ahead of the match, said his team is motivated to score over Al Duhail. “We will give everything we have to the match in order to achieve victory. We need to avoid mistakes against Al Duhail and exploit their mistakes,” he said.
“Al Duhail made many changes from last season. They have a stronger team this season and I expect them to be different, especially since they will not play in the AFC Champions League this year, unlike teams such as Al Rayyan, Al Gharafa and Al Sadd who will play in the AFC Champions League Elite, so they will play to win, but we have the motivation to achieve victory,” he added.
Al Rayyan player Murad Naji said, “We showed in the first match our goal in the league by defeating Umm Salal. We respect all league teams and we have a long season that includes the AFC Champions League Elite and many other championships.”
Al Duhail coach Christophe Galtier said it is a big match for his team. “It’s a big for our team. Although it is the second match in the league championship, it carries great importance and is considered as a summit clash. The games between us and Al Rayyan are always full of excitement and challenge. Al Rayyan presented a distinguished performance last season and as we seek to achieve a distinguished season as well. It is necessary for us to show a strong performance in these direct matches,” he said.
“Al Rayyan have maintained the team structure from last season, as there are not many changes in their formation, especially in the attacking line, which was very effective. The only change has been the coach who knows the league well. For our part, we focused during the preparatory period on improving our attack significantly, and we worked on avoiding the mistakes that occurred previously, such as losing the ball unjustifiably, which could pose a danger to us,” he added.
“Another challenge facing us is maintaining focus and not being affected by our big win in the first match. The most important thing now is to focus on the next match and not dwell on the result of the previous match.”
Al Duhail player Edmilson Junior said, “It has been two years since I was away from the stadiums and I feel that I am finally about to return strongly. I believe that we are now fully ready for this match thanks to the hard work we have done under the supervision of the coach and the technical staff.
“I put in a lot of efforts during the recovery period, and I worked side by side with the team and the specialists at the club. We had a good training camp, where we focused on improving the ttechnical aspects.”
In the other match of the day, Umm Salal will play Al Shamaal at the Al Janoub Stadium at 6.30pm.
