Al Rayyan’s new coach Laurent Blanc spoke to the media ahead of their 2020-21 season QNB Stars League Week 10 match against Al Sadd, dubbed the Qatar Clasico.

“The Al Sadd match will be difficult because they are the leaders. They have a coach who has a football philosophy as he played for many years with Barcelona.

“I came to Qatar because I love to develop myself and love new challenges. The task will not be easy, especially since I believe it is necessary to develop the performance of Al Rayyan, and this is my mission and that of my staff.

“I will work to develop the team’s performance as we did not have enough time to prepare for this match. But our technical staff and players will give everything we have to achieve a positive result in our first match. I know exactly how important this stage is for the fans who are waiting for better results. The match will not be easy and we know that very well,” said Blanc.

Al Rayyan player Yacine Brahimi said, “The players will fight against Al Sadd in order to win the match and this game is always the most important for us. All our focus is on it and I will give everything I have to serve the team and I hope we will win this match.

“Our new coach (Laurent) Blanc wanted to recruit me in Paris Saint-Germain when he was their coach. We know the Al Sadd team and their players, it is a very good team. We have to focus on ourselves and the most important thing for us is the match against Al Sadd.”