Al Duhail coach Christophe Galtier spoke to the media ahead of their 2023-2024 season Expo Stars League Week 14 match against Al Arabi.

“We went through a long preparation period that lasted for seven weeks during the break for the Asian Cup won by Qatar. We prepared for our players who were absent due to injury and there was a good preparation period, which the players utilized in an excellent manner. Now, it has become important to reintegrate our players returning from the national team and prepare them for the upcoming matches.

“During the preparation period, we lost a number of matches to strong teams such as Zenit of Russia and Shanghai of China, which helped us modify some things in the team’s structure, and we succeeded in signing player (Lucas) Verissimo, who will form an addition to the team’s defence. We also analyzed the team’s matches. The first one was not good and I decided to make a change in the organization to improve performance.

“Our match against Al Arabi will be strong and it is an opportunity to get the team back on the winning path, especially since we are far behind the top teams. We hope to end the season in a good position, which requires us to focus and work with all seriousness, and the team has regained its strength after we worked hard.

“Verissimo is ready after he trained with us during the last period, and before his contract he had resumed training with his Brazilian team and he will be ready to participate and will be an addition to the team,” said Galtier.

Al Duhail player Ismail Mohammed said, “We, the players, do not like the position occupied by Al Duhail in the league standings.

“After a long break, we are returning to the league and despite our absence from the preparation period due to our participation with the national team in the Asian Cup, we are fully prepared for the match, and there is great harmony between the players. Tactics of the technical staff are also helping. We will be fully focused and we must think about achieving victory.

“We suffer from some fatigue, but it is not an excuse for us and we must adapt to all situations and work with a professional mentality because fatigue will not be an obstacle for us. We must work hard to implement the plan of technical staff to achieve the result required of us.

“Everyone is dissatisfied with the team’s standing and all the players have a desire to improve the situation. Al Duhail are always able to come back after a stumble and our focus now is on winning matches.”