Al Rayyan coach Bulent Uygun yesterday said that his team will be able to offer a good level of competition to defeat QNB Stars League (QSL) table toppers Al Sadd in their next meeting
Speaking to media ahead of the round 17 encounter, dubbed as the Qatar Clasico, the Turkish tactician said that they will go into the match with a winning mindset following a brilliant win against Iran’s Saipa which secured them a berth in the AFC Champions League Group Stage.
“Our players are suffering from exhaustion after our AFC Champions League play-off win over Iranian side Saipa on Tuesday. It is against this backdrop that we are going into the Qatar Clasico against Al Sadd.
Al Rayyan made it to the continental tournament for the ninth time with a 3-1 win over the Iranian team in Tuesday’s play-off.
“Al Sadd are a strong team with many prominent players, The game will be strong and exciting, and I wish both teams will offer a good level,” Ugyun said.
“There are a lot of star players in Al Sadd. But in spite of that, we will play to win. The main thing is it is a big clasico between the two teams. We started preparing for the Al Sadd match soon after our victory over Saipa in the AFC Champions League,” he said.
Al Sadd are currently leading the QSL standings with 41 points while Al Rayyan leaped from fourth to third position with 30 points with a win against Al Arabi in the previous round.
Al Rayyan will miss the suspended captain Rodrigo Tabata, but coach Ugyun was optimistic about the team’s capabilities.
“I think Al Sadd can be defeated. We will miss the services of players Rodrigo Tabata, Omar Barri and Daniel Goumou. However, we have substitute players who can make up for their absences. I also hope the fans will greatly enjoy the match,” said Bulent.
Al Rayyan will also have the services of the high-flying new-signing Venezuelan Rivas, Brazilian Luka, South Korean Koh Myong-Jin and Sebastian Soria.
Al Sadd may be without injured Xavi Hernandez and Boualem Khoukhi, but the strong Wolves still have got the leading goalscorer Baghdad Bounedjah, Akram Afif, Pedro, Hassan Al Haydous, Hamed Ismail, Abdulkarim Hassan, Tareq Salman and Salem Al Hajri.
The highly anticipated clash between the two former QSL champions will kick off at the Al Sadd Stadium at 7:10 pm on Saturday.
Source: thepeninsulaqatar.com