Xavi: We want to defeat Al-Gharafa to end the season with a win, we’re not happy with 3rd place

19 August 2020

Al-Sadd head coach Xavi Hernandez has stressed on his side’s desire to end the season on a good note, with a win over Al-Gharafa in the 22nd and final round of the 2019-20 QNB Stars League. The match is set to be played on Thursday at Al Janoub Stadium.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Xavi said: “We are ready to compete in the last game of the competition. It’s a pity that we couldn’t win this title. I think we lost due to our own mistakes, but we are in a good moment; we won the last 4 games in a row, and we want to continue like that, knowing the difficulty (of the game) because it’s Al Gharafa, who are 4th in the table and (their coach) Jokanovic is doing very well. The team improved a lot this season and they have good players.”

“It will be a really good game, tough for both sides, we know that we are in a good moment and we want to finish the competition well, with a win.”

Asked about his side’s position in the league table, the coach said: “No, we cannot be happy; Al Sadd is not to finish in third place. We are disappointed, we didnt compete well. So we have to prepare well for the next one and we have to play much better.”

“It was a pity, during that part of the season after the Champions League exit, when we lost three games in a row. It was a really tough period for us and that’s why we were not able to compete until the end in this competition and so we want to prepare well for the next one, for sure.”

As for the team’s objectives in the upcoming season, Xavi remarked: “In the next season, we want to win the league. This is one of the main goals for the next season. We are Al Sadd and we are winners. I think we are a better team than before. We have more options to play with, in all the positions on the pitch.”

“So we are ready, ready to compete. Last season was good – not very good, not excellent, because we could not win the league, but we won the Sheikh Jassim Cup, the Qatar Cup and we are in the semifinals of the Ooredoo Cup and the Amir Cup. We have to compete for all the competitions and we are ready for that.”