Al Duhail head coach, Christophe Galtier, confirmed that the upcoming match versus Al Ahli is a crucial and significant encounter between the league leaders and runners-up. The match importance has increased following our recent loss to Al Shahania, which narrowed the gap between us and Al Ahli. However, we still maintain our top position.

Galtier added: Al Ahli is a well-organized team with collective skills and exceptional individual players like Draxler and our former player Abdurrahman ‘Bido,’ who has been performing well for Al Ahli since the beginning of the season. However, we are ready to face Al Ahli.

Galtier continued: As you know, we went through a long international break, which undoubtedly affected our preparations for the match due to the numerous international players we have who participated with Qatar national team, in addition to Michael Olunga, who returned from participating with the Kenyan national team. We didn’t have enough time to prepare for the upcoming match.

Galtier went on to say: You noticed that we fielded many non-international players during the international break in the QSL Cup to maintain momentum and give players the spirit of participating in matches. We tried to prepare all the players and will focus on the rest of the players in the coming days.

He added: We must regain our level that we started the season with, despite the recent loss we suffered to Al Shahania, where we made many mistakes and missed many goal scoring opportunities that cost us the three points of the match. However, we have prepared well for Al Ahli, a well-organized team that excels at counter-attacks, in addition to their good organization and positioning on the field. However, we worked to address the mistakes that appeared versus Al Shahania and we will try to be more effective and realistic.

Galtier concluded: Of course, the international breaks are numerous this season compared to last season, which witnessed only three breaks. This undoubtedly affects us as a team due to the large number of our players participating with the national teams. However, we know that it is a national duty and of course, it comes first. But in the end, it is an opportunity to involve young players to gain more harmony with the rest of the team, especially foreign professionals.