Al Duhail Football Team Head Coach Christophe Galtier confirmed during the pre-match press conference held this afternoon at the Al Duhail Club press conference hall, the difficulty of the upcoming match versus Al Rayyan, which is scheduled to take place on Thursday at Ahmed bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan as part of Round 13 fixtures of the Ooredoo Stars League.
Galtier opened his statements by saying: The upcoming match is considered one of the top matches of the league and comes after returning from a long break. However, we completed our preparations well despite the clear physical impact. In the last twenty-five minutes of the previous match, especially, the team physical impact was clearly evident, which affected our tactical aspect of the match versus Qatar. But we worked to address the physical aspects.
He added: I wished we could continue the matches consecutively, but we had a friendly match which was a good opportunity to prepare, but as I mentioned, the physical factor was clearly evident on the players.
Galtier continued: Al Rayyan played an official match during the break, which gives them an advantage in terms of readiness, in addition to their new head coach who added a new competitive spirit to the team, in addition to the team superiority and excellence on the offensive side. We also have a lot of strengths, and everyone is working and waiting for us to stumble, but we are definitely ready for the match.
He went on: We will enter the match with all seriousness and focus as usual before any match. I worked well with the technical staff on how to recover the ball possession and impose our style and not allow the opponent to possess the ball for long periods. We have a strong attacking line and of course Al Rayyan team and the rest of the teams know that for what we have of a great goalscoring record. We will work hard not to allow the opponent to exploit mistakes and we will try during the remaining training sessions before the match to find solutions to limit the danger of Al Rayyan strikers.
The coach concluded: When you have the goal of winning titles, it will certainly be accompanied by some pressure, but if we win the remaining matches, we will be champions of course and the rest of the pursuers will not be able to say that. The pressure is great and increasing, and there are other factors including injuries, which certainly affect the team stability. To face such challenges, everyone must be committed, whether players or technical staff as well.
