The 2018-19 season QNB Stars League’s first leg that concluded on 4th November witnessed many thrilling contests. Al Sadd’s two matches (against Al Khor from Week 5 and Al Duhail from Week 9) have yet to be played due to their AFC Champions League fixtures and are rescheduled for 28th November and 11th December respectively.
The 64 games saw many an exciting encounter, between the top, middle and bottom-placed, teams. They also included tactical battles between the coaches, as sub-plots.
QSL Online reviews the first leg with some important statistics and figures.
Preparations
Most clubs prepared for the new QNB Stars League, that started on 4th August, in right earnest with focus on good performances and positions. Most of them underwent training camps in Europe.
Al Duhail, Al Sadd and Al Rayyan had their camps in Austria, while Al Sailiya chose Tunisia for it. Al Gharafa and Al Khor camped in the Netherlands and Al Ahli prepared in Oman.
Al Shahania and Al Khraitiyat went through their paces in Turkey. Qatar had it in Serbia, while Umm Salal and Al Arabi camped in Slovenia.
Friendly matches
All teams played a number of friendly matches during the pre-season camp and also after returning to Doha before the league competition started.
Those games helped the teams reach their best state in terms of technical and physical readiness. They enabled the coaches to give finishing touches to the squad and test various team compositions.
Strong signings
The clubs made a number of strong signings with the aim of strengthening their squads. Al Duhail recruited Brazilian striker Edmilson, Al Sadd roped in Spanish star Gabi Fernandez from Atletico Madrid, South Korean and Yong Jong while renewing the contract with Akram Afif from Villarreal.
Al Rayyan also signed prominent players like Khalfan Ibrahim, the best Asian player in 2006 and former star of Al Arabi and Al Sadd, and Brazilian Lucca Borges.
Some of the other key deals were Moroccan Mouhcine Moutaouly (Al Rayyan to Al Ahli), Dutchman Nigel de Jong as well as Iranians Omid Ibrahim and Mohammed Reza, all by Al Ahli.
While Al Gharafa got back the services of Slovakian winger Vladimir Weiss, who was injured most of last season, Umm Salal signed agreements with former Al Gharafa and Qatar national team defender Bilal Mohammed, midfielder Lawrence Quaye and defender Mohammed Kassola.
Al Arabi bolstered their ranks with some prominent players, such as Ahmed Ibrahim and Mohammed Salah El Neel.
Qatar SC signed Cameroonian striker Samuel Eto’o. Meanwhile, Ahmed Yassin, Rebin Solaka and Brazilian Wagner Ferreira joined Al Khor.
Al Kharaitiyat took under their wings Algerian attacking midfielder Jugurtha Hamroun from Al Sadd.
Fast facts
The Qatar Clasico between Al Sadd and Al Rayyan, played in the sixth week at the Al Sadd Stadium, the Al Sadd vs Al Arabi match in Week 2 and Al Duhail vs Al Rayyan game in Week 3 were the standout fixtures.
Stars and brightest talents
A number of players starred in the first leg, including the likes of Xavi Hernandez, Akram Afif, Baghdad Bounedjah (all Al Sadd), Nam Tae-Hee, Yousef El Arabi, Almoez Ali (Al Duhai), Rodrigo Tabata, Mohammed Alaaeldin, Abdulrahman Al Korbi (all Al Rayyan), Mouhcine Moutaouly (Al Ahli), Rashid Tiberkanine, Abdulqadir Ilyas and Abdulkarim Salem (all Al Sailiya).
Many young stars also emerged during the period. Among them were Abdelhadi Noman (Al Kharaitiyat), Mohammed Al Bakri (Al Khor), Muwafaq Awad (Al Rayyan), Abdullah Al Ahraq (Al Duhail), Rashid Mabkhout (Al Sailiya), Monkez Ali, Muad Yahya, Walid Al Ali and Amro Seraj (all Al Gharafa). Those who excelled in the last season also included Almoez Ali, Bassam Al Rawi, Yousef Hassan, Salem Al Hajri.
5 coaches part ways
Five coaches parted ways with their teams either by mutual consent or after being dismissed. The teams that made changes at their helm were Al Kharaitiyat, Al Khor and Qatar SC, Al Arabi and Al Rayyan.
Al Kharitiyat were the first on the list. They replaced Tunisian Nassif Al Bayawi with Moroccan Abdelaziz El Amri after three matches.
Al Khor ended the contract with Tunisian Adel Sellimi after the fourth round and appointed Frenchman Bernard Casoni.
After Week 5, Qatar SC recruited Argentinian Sergio Batista in place of Abdulla Mubarak.
At the end of eighth round, Al Arabi replaced Croat Luka Bonacic with Tunisian Hatem Al Moaddeb, their Under-23 team coach.
Another Argentinian Rodolfo Aurrabarrena decided to leave Al Rayyan.
Goals and match average
The total number of goals scored in 64 matches was 205, with an average of 3.20 goals per game. The highest margin of victory was 10-1 by which Al Sadd defeated Al Arabi in Week 2.
22 goals from outside the penalty area
A total of 22 goals were scored from outside the penalty area.
Shots, passes and dribbles
The total number of shots was 1,647, of which 644 were on target.
The average passes per game was 487.8, of which 404.4 were successful.
The average dribbles per game was 11.2.
29 penalties awarded
The number of penalties awarded across the 64 games was 29 strikes, of which 24 were converted.
235 yellow cards and 14 red cards
The yellow card was issued 235 times and red card 14 times.
The top 10 scorers after first leg
Baghdad Bounedjah (Al Sadd) — 16 goals from nine matches
Yousef El Arabi (Al Duhail) — 11 goals from 1o matches
Akram Afif (Al Sadd) — 10 goals from nine matches
Rachid Tiberkanine (Al Sailiya) — 10 goals from 11 matches
Abdulqadir Ilyas (Al Sailiya) — 9 goals from 11 matches
Yannick Sagbo (Umm Salal) — 8 goals from 11 matches
Nam Tae-Hee (Al Duhail) — 6 goals from 10 matches
Mehdi Taremi (Al Gharafa) — 5 goals from 11 matches
Rodrigo Tabata (Al Rayyan) — 5 goals from 11 matches
Vladimir Weiss (Al Gharafa) — 5 goals from 11 matches
Al Duhail top the standings
Defending champions Al Duhail topped the table with 28 points despite playing a game less. Their game against Al Sadd from Week 9 has been rescheduled for 11th December as Al Sadd had AFC Champions League commitment.
The Red Knights, who won nine matches and drew one, are going strong and are the only unbeaten team around in this season’s league competition so far.
Al Duhail have a good group of players who have been together for long. They are also being benefited from the team’s technical staff.
They scored 27 goals, the second highest after Al Sadd’s 38, and have the best defence that conceded just six goals. Al Sadd’s was the next best defence, having conceded only nine times).
Other positions
Al Rayyan came in second place with 21 points and Al Sadd third with 20 points with two postponed games, against Al Khor and Al Duhail.
Al Sailiya are fourth on 19 points and Al Ahli fifth with 18.
They are followed by Al Gharafa (15 points), Umm Salal (15), Al Shahania (12), Al Arabi (12), Qatar SC (11), Al Khor (eight) and Al Kharaitiyat (three) in that order.
For standings, please click here:
Source: qsl.qa