Al Gharafa coach Pedro Martins spoke to the media ahead of their 2025-2026 season Doha Bank Stars League Week 8 match against Al Ahli.

“The match represents a strong incentive to advance in the standings. Al Ahli's position in the standings does not reflect the true level of the team, so we expect it to be a difficult match.

“We have devoted two days of preparation to the recovery process in order to prepare the players physically well, and then we began working on the strategy we will employ for the match,” said Martins.

Al Gharafa player Rayyan Al Ali said, “Our preparations are like any other match, and our goal is to win the three points. We must play with high concentration against a distinguished team with good players.”