Xavi: We only played for 20 minutes, Al-Duhail had a huge desire to win

Al-Sadd head coach Xavi Hernandez expressed his disappointment after his side lost 4-1 to Al-Duhail in Round 9 of the QNB Stars League.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Xavi said: “I feel very disappointed because of this result. We only played for 20 minutes, without any spirit or applying any pressure on the opponent. And so, it was difficult to win.”

He added: “I am responsible for that. We played against a strong team, who had a huge desire to win and managed to achieve it.”

As for Akram Afif’s substitution, Xavi said: “Akram felt some pain and he informed about it, and he was substituted.”

Asked about the changes made during the second half, the coach remarked that both substitutes Abdulaziz Al-Ansari and Ali Asad performed well. “We work as a group, but even if you assemble the best team in the world, you cannot win without any spirit.”

Xavi was also asked if this defeat was similar to the one in last season’s Amir Cup final, to which he replied: “The Amir Cup final is different from today’s game. I will speak to the players and ask them why they did not perform well today.”

“We must think about the coming phase. It is difficult to think of winning the league if the performance continues like this.”

Responding to a question on Abdelkarim Hassan’s absence and its effect on the team’s defence, Xavi said: “Of course, we miss Abdelkarim but this defeat is not because of his absence or because of the defence only.”

“We will try to correct our mistakes in the upcoming games. The pressure won’t be on the defenders alone, as the team is to always defend together as a group starting from the front.”