Al Ahli coach Ruben de la Barrera spoke to the media ahead of their 2019-20 QNB Stars League Week 5 match against Al Rayyan.

“We know that our match against Al Rayyan in Week 5 of the QNB Stars League is difficult, especially after our recent loss of Al Gharafa. We are well aware that Al Rayyan have a group of good players. However, we worked to overcome the loss and correct the mistakes that we committed.

“Al Rayyan play a balanced game. Their attackers are dangerous, especially Rodrigo Tabata who is known for his potential. We must control the play and not allow him to play his natural game and create opportunities.

“When we talk about losing to Al Gharafa, we did not deserve it. Now we have a tough task against Al Rayyan and we should focus on it. We have analysed the opponents. They struggle when they lose the ball and we can cause them problems by having ball possession.

“The league is still long and we are not that affected by the loss to Al Gharafa. We can make up for it. Same is the case with all teams,” said Barrera.