Ahead of the final round of QNB Stars League, Al Ahli will be looking to finish in the seventh position with a victory over Al Rayyan.

The Brigadiers are now eighth with 22 points (six wins, four draws and 11 defeats) ahead of Qatar SC on goal difference as the latter have the same number of points. Al Ahli have two points less than seventh-placed Al Arabi, so they must win and also hope Al Arabi either draw or lose to Al Gharafa to end up seventh.

Al Ahli have reasons to believe so, for they had defeated Al Rayyan 2-0 in the first phase.

It was a case of form deterioration for Al Ahli as the tournament progressed. They had done reasonably under Joaquin Caparros in the first phase and were sixth with 14 points at the end of 11th round.

In the first half of the season, Al Ahli had four victories to their credit, while they drew two matches and lost five.

The Spaniard quit his job due to personal reasons and youth team coach George Jorje took charge. The team’s performance was more or less the same, but went a few notches lower.

Lack of consistency was their bane and they lost or drew games from winning positions. They have collected only eight points in the second phase compared to 14 in the first.

Their squad included some really good players who presented good performances, but it is true that they did not get the desired results. Goalkeeper Yazan Naim is one of the players who excelled for Al Ahli.

The squad was a mix of youth and experience, with the latter category including the likes of Meshaal Mubarak, Meshaal Abdulla, Tunisian Yassine Chikhaoui, Syrian Hadi Al Masri and Majed Mohammed.