Xavi: We are motivated to defeat Al-Rayyan

Al-Sadd head coach Xavi Hernandez said that his team is fully motivated for the upcoming clash with Al-Rayyan match in the semi-finals of the 2020 Qatar Cup.

Speaking during the pre-match press conference, Xavi said: “This is a very important championship, and for us, (it’s like) we’re facing Al Rayyan in a final. At Al Sadd, we seek to win titles, and this will be a great Clasico between Al Sadd and Al Rayyan, an intense game with lots of fans.”

The coach added: “We will prepare ourselves to beat Al Rayyan, who have improved a lot. The players and I, we are ready and motivated to win this, just like the rest of the titles in the season.”

Regarding the Al-Sadd defence facing off against Al-Rayyan’s attack, Xavi said: “The Al-Sadd defence is improving and we need to develop further. We will face a strong attack from Al-Rayyan’s players, especially Brahimi, who always makes the difference, and we must be careful of them. We suffered against Al-Rayyan in the league and the time has come to take a footballing revenge. Our goal is to win and qualify for the final.”

As for the win in the last game over Al-Arabi, Xavi pointed out that the big 6-1 victory clearly shows the team’s return to form, and added: “I am very proud of training these players. We must be fully prepared for the Al-Rayyan team, so we can keep having good moments this season. But the last game confirmed to us that the team is always able to show its best.”

The Spanish coach concluded by saying: “Winning championships is very important and this title is very important for me and the players. We love to win and all the matches are like finals for us and we aspire to win them.”