Xavi: We will continue with our approach, we must be careful against Al Shahania

Al-Sadd head coach Xavi Hernandez stressed on the difficulty of the upcoming clash against Al-Shahania in the QNB Stars League Round 13 game, which will be held on Saturday evening at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium.

Speaking during the press conference for the match: “Tomorrow’s match against Al-Shahaniya is difficult for us, as on paper we are the favorites to win, but we will find it difficult to win in such matches as it happened against Al-Wakrah and Qatar. So tomorrow’s match is very important.”

The coach added: “We are going through some great moments in this current point of the season, and I hope there will be no drop in our level. Al Rayyan’s loss against Al Gharafa is a positive result for us as it gave us an opportunity to get closer to the top teams. We will continue with this approach to compete strongly for the league title.”

“Tomorrow’s match is very dangerous, especially as all the teams that face us are motivated.”

He added: “All teams in the league have evolved, in terms of players and coaches, and we must prepare well for them. Tomorrow’s match against Al-Shahaniya will be similar to our matches against Al-Wakra, Qatar and Al-Khor. The solution lies in not conceding an early goal. We must control possession, initiate scoring and not concede early goals.”

Xavi continued: “Al-Shahania team has a good coach and excellent players. The team changed a lot with the beginning of the second half and improved; Al-Shahaniya is now more organized, especially on the defensive side, after a draw with Al Rayyan and victory over Al Gharafa.”

He concluded with an injury update: “Gabi, Tariq and Hamid will continue to be absent due to injury, but we have good replacements.”