Al Sadd face Al Rayyan in the second semifinal of 2020 Qatar Cup on Saturday, 11th January, 2020. The kick-off is at 19:30 at the Al Sadd Stadium.

Al Sadd made it to the elite tournament featuring the top-four clubs in the league by topping the 2018-19 QNB Stars League table with 57 points. They had the most number of wins (18) and scored the most number of goals (100). The Wolves also had the least number of defeats (just the loss to Al Ahli in the first leg) and conceded the least number of goals (22), after runners-up Al Duhail (17).

Al Rayyan qualified for the Qatar Cup for the fourth time in a row by finishing fourth in the 2018-19 QNB Stars League with 37 points, behind Al Sadd, Al Duhail and Al Sailiya.

The Lions won 10 matches, drew seven and lost five. They had a goal difference of three, having scored 34 goals and conceded 31.

Going into the match, both teams are on a high following their big-margin victories in the QNB Stars League. Al Sadd defeated Al Arabi 6-1 in a match deferred from Week 5, with Baghdad Bounedjah and Hassan Al Haydous both contributing a double, even though they had lost 1-2 to Al Wakrah in Week 12 last week.

Al Rayyan are coming off a 4-0 win over Umm Salal, with Algerian attacking midfielder Yacine Brahimi scoring a hat-trick.

Al Sadd coach Xavi Hernandez and his Al Rayyan counterpart Diego Aguirre have been preparing their wards, technically, physically and psychologically ahead of the big clash. Both sides have outstanding players in their ranks and that adds spice to the thriller.