Al Arabi head into the derby off the back of two victories in the league. The Dream Team will be looking to further unsettle the QSL champions in the derby on Saturday evening. Head coach Edison Aguirre gave his thoughts to the media ahead of the game. 

Opening up the press confernce the Brazilain coach revealed the personal importance of the tie. “It’s a special game for me. I worked previously with Al Rayyan and I know how important the game is for both teams. It will be a good game, and I am looking forward to this derby.”

“I think this game we can show how much we have changed. It will be a difficult game, we are playing the QSL champions. However we have improved lately and I hope that the game is good and meets the expectations of the fans” added Aguirre at the Thursday morning press conference. 

Aguire ended the press conference suggesting that his side are up for the derby.  “We hope we will play well against Al Arabi, it should be a open game in attack because lately the teams we have been playing have been looking to frustrate us. It will be tough, we will be fully prepared and our aim is for a positive result and a positive performance.”



Al Rayyan head into the derby off the back of a narrow 1-0 win over Al Wakrah last time out. Rayyan head coach Michael Laudrup game his thoughts to the media ahead of the crunch tie at Al Arabi stadium. 

Opening up the press conference the Danish coach stressed that Al Arabi’s league position does not reflect the players in the team. “When I see the season of Al Arabi it’s strange they don’t have more points. The side have plenty of quality through the side and that doesn’t represent their league position. I expect a difficult game for us.”

“The game against Al Wakrah was not good, but considering what we had come from in the defeat against Al Sadd it showed our strength mentally.in football the most important thing is the result you have to believe in your philosophy, but even the best sides play badly and win. Sometimes a good characteristics of a side is to get a result even if you don’t play well and that will be the same from this game” added the Danish coach. 

Laudrup also had his say on the title race, suggesting it’s a long way to go for his team. “Right now, there are three teams who are many points ahead. When we arrive to April we can see where are in regards to the title. We have to take each game at a time.” 

The Al Rayyan supremo ended his press conference revealing his happiness with the Al Rayyan squad. “I am satisfied with the performance of the team. Aside from the Al Sadd game we have played well in other games. We have lacked creating chances at times but overall I am happy with the work of the side.”