Al Sadd coach Xavi Hernandez spoke to the media ahead of their 2021-2022 season QNB Stars League Week 2 match against Qatar SC.

“Our next match against Qatar SC will be very difficult. They had performed well when we played against them last season in the match that ended in a draw at their stadium, so I expect a really difficult match. And we have to be ready and we must prepare well for this match.

“Every match will be difficult this season, as all clubs have signed good players, especially Qatar SC, who have Javier Martinez and Djamel Benlamri. And they also have Youcef Belaili. We are talking about really good players who can make the difference.

“We will take a look at our team. We started well against Al Sailiya and we have to continue like this in order to score more victories.

“We cannot change the schedule and we have to adapt to it. At the same time, we have a large group of players whom we can rotate. In the last match, Pedro got rest, Musab entered and performed well. Ali Asad, Mohamed Waad and Yousef Abdulrazaq, all of them performed well. We have a large group of players and we have no excuse. We want to win every game and we are the favourites to win the league title again,” said Xavi.

Al Sadd player Yousef Abdulrazaq said, “The match is difficult and we must prepare well for it. We will try to score early in order to win and collect the three points.

“The Al Sailiya match was the first match in the league and the opening matches are always difficult. We played excellently in the first half. In the second half, the players felt tired due to the hot weather. We thank God for winning the three points, which are considered the most important.”