Al Ahli coach Ruben de la Barrera spoke to the media ahead of their QNB Stars League Week 16 match against Al Kharaitiyat.

“First of all, I congratulate Qatar on winning the 2019 Asian Cup. I’ll work hard to improve the performance of the team. Our upcoming clash against Al Kharaitiyat will be very difficult mainly because the opponents are fighting hard to avoid relegation.

“It was a good opportunity to get to know the team, each player and how to build the game we want to rely on. We respect what the team has done in the past and we’ll build on the past to provide the best during the period.

“We’ve seen Al Kharaitiyat before and I’m surprised at the quality and strength of that team and its ranking in the league. That does not reflect the level they offer. We’re interested in winning.

“What I focus on now is to help the players improve performance. We, in Spain, are learning a lot and we’re playing a lot of games that give us more experience, and that’s what I’m going to transfer to the players. I’m thinking of winning with Al Ahli,” said Barrera.