Al Sadd are gearing up for their AFC Champions League second-leg semifinal against Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal, to be played in Riyadh on 22nd October.

Two days after their 1-5 loss to Al Wakrah in Round 1 of the Ooredoo Cup (Group A) on 11th October, the players started going through their paces under the watchful eyes of Spanish coach Xavi Hernandez.

According to the club’s website, the trio of Meshaal Barsham, Hussein Behzad and Hashem Ali had joined the squad after doing duty for the Qatar Olympic team in preparation for the AFC Under-23 Championship, to be held in Thailand from 8th to 26th January, 2020. It is also the qualification tournament for next summer’s Tokyo Olympics.

Al Sadd are waiting for the return of Qatar internationals and overseas professionals, who are away on country duty, while injured players Abdulaziz Al Ansari and Ahmed Sayyar were also absent from training.

Xavi is keen to make more Under-23 players match-ready ahead of their local and Asian challenges, and participation in the FIFA Club World Cup in Doha in December.