Ferriera & Laudrup set for face-off during Sunday’s Clasico

Two experienced coaches in Al Sadd’s Jesaldo Ferriera and Al Rayyan’s Danish boss Michael Laudrup will face-off in what could be a title deciding Qatar Clasico match. Ahead of the crunch game on Sunday evening at Al Sadd stadium, QSL online has decided to look at the records of the two coaches to see how they fare heading into one of the most important Clasico matches in recent memory. All of our information has been provided by STATS, the official data partner of the QSL.

Looking first at veteran coach Jesaldo Ferriera, the Portuguese coach has enjoyed an extensive managerial career. Ferriera has enjoyed stints with three of the biggest clubs in his native Portugal with Benfica, Porto and Sporting CP all forming part of his enviable CV. This is the 70 year old coach’s first stint in the Middle East, but his record this season clearly shows that Ferriera has wasted little time to adapt to the rigours of the QSL.

This season, Ferriera has overseen all of Sadd’s games in the league picking up 54 points for his side. To date, Ferriera has picked up 16 wins, 6 draws and just 1 defeat this season. Ferriera has encouraged a free-flowing attacking style with Al Sadd and the Wolves are currently the second highest goal scorers in the league finding the back of the net a total of 69 times this season. This impressive record has led to an average of 2.35 points per match, again the second highest points to match ratio of any manger in the QSL.

As for Al Rayyan coach Michael Laudrup, the Danish coach boasts extensive coaching experience leading sides in Spain, Russia and the Premier League in England. Crucially Laudrup previously enjoyed a stint with Lekhwiya in the QSL, winning a league and Qatar Cup double in his only season in charge of the Red Knights. That big-match QSL experience could be a key factor heading into the title-deciding Qatar Clasico this Sunday.

To date, Laudrup has coached the Lions on 21 occasions this season, this is down to former head coach Jorge Fossati taking the Qatar national team job two games into the 2016/2017 QSL season. After taking over the current QSL champions, Laudrup has overseen 13 wins, 4 draws and 4 defeats in the league, picking up 43 points for his new side.

Laudrup has opted to build on defensive stability and is partly the reason why Al Rayyan have only conceded on 19 occasions this season, the second lowest record in the league. This means that the former Danish international to average 2.05 points per match, the third highest tally of any manager in the league.  

With both managers enjoying similar records this term, it certainly means that the Qatar Clasico is set to be an interesting tactical battle between two of the best coaches the QSL has to offer. You can pick up tickets for Sunday’s Qatar Clasico here.