Al Duhail coach Christophe Galtier spoke to the media ahead of their 2024-2025 season Ooredoo Stars League Week 21 match against Al Arabi.

“I spoke a lot about the last match, which was a huge shock to everyone here, as we did not expect the team to perform that poorly. Everyone demanded an explanation for what happened, but sometimes you cannot find an explanation for what happens. I never imagined my team could perform at this level.

“Everyone believes Al Sadd will win the league. Of course, anything is possible and Al Sadd are at the top of the league, but nothing is guaranteed yet. Certainly, Al Sadd could stumble like we did and the scales in the league could tip.

“We could not handle the pressure when we were the better side and I cannot believe the players were not excited about facing Al Shamal. However, I believe the intense pressure while we were in the lead was a major factor in the way we performed during the match.

“I expect a strong response from the players. I am delivering my message through this Press conference to the players and I will also tell them in the dressing room that the Al Shamal match was the biggest disappointment of my entire coaching career. Our fate is no longer in our own hands now that we lost and Al Sadd are on top of the league.

“The players know I am angry and I am convinced they did not lose on purpose, but the pressure got the better of them and that is confusing to me, because we have experienced players. We were not playing to avoid relegation, we were playing for the title. This kind of pressure should be positive. However, we did not handle it well,” said Galtier.

Al Duhail player Bassam Al Rawi said, Of course, the loss to Al Shamal was tough on all of us at Al Duhail after we were in the lead and close to winning the title. However, the team was not ready for this match and not everyone performed at the required level of fitness.

“We must focus on the Al Arabi match. The league is still ongoing with two rounds remaining. We must change the image we all displayed during the Al Shamal match. The league is not over yet, and things could change at any moment. We must focus on the Al Arabi match and we have no alternative but to win the match in order to hold on to our hopes of winning the league until the end.”