Xavi: It will be a very difficult match, Al Arabi have improved a lot

Al-Sadd head coach Xavi Hernandez stressed on the difficulty of the upcoming clash against Al-Arabi team, in the postponed game from the fifth week of the QNB Stars League.

Speaking at the prematch press conference, Xavi said: “It will be a very difficult match. Al-Arabi has improved a lot this season. This is a big derby that puts pressure on both teams. Al-Arabi is strong offensively and we must be careful about the decisive passes of their attackers.”

He added: “We do not want to suffer in tomorrow’s game. We must play to win and we have the capabilities to do that. A return to victories is very important to us, and a win tomorrow will put us one step further.”

Xavi continued: “Through my experience as a former player and a coach currently, I find no solution to improve the team except through work, especially as we have an excellent team participating in several tournaments. I am proud to coach this team and we must improve for the better always.”

Regarding the team’s decline in performance in the recent period, the coach said: “We started the season well, but we could not continue and all the teams are going through a difficult period, such as Al-Duhail, Al-Rayyan, Al-Sailiya, Al-Gharafa, especially as the Qatari league has evolved a lot. Tomorrow we will have another situation; we will work on a clear goal, which is always victory.”