Al Duhail coach Christophe Galtier spoke to the media ahead of their 2023-2024 season Expo Stars League Week 17 match against Al Wakrah.

“We will face a well-organized team and even if there is an absence of an important player for them, which is defender Lucas Mendes, the team remains distinguished, especially on the defensive side, and is distinguished by its organization on the field, and puts pressure on the opponents, which we must pay close attention to.

“We are going through a difficult period and are trying to come back again. In the last match, we had several chances to score that we did not capitalize on, but despite this we did not lose the match because of the brilliance of goalkeeper Shehab Ellethi, who prevented the opponents from scoring several times due to the mistakes we made.

“The responsibility for bad results is always attributed to the coach, which is the logic, and I bear the responsibility to be under pressure instead of the team players because they can play without pressure and provide a good result.

“It is difficult to determine the team’s goals in the coming period, especially since we came out with negative results in the recent period, and the first goal for us is to win the next match. Regarding retaining the league title, it is almost impossible, but the world of football always holds surprises and there is the Amir Cup tournament, then AFC Champions League.

“Before all of this, we are now focusing on our against Al Wakrah to regain confidence. Without confidence, desired results cannot be achieved and to regain confidence, the players must believe in themselves and we must be back on the winning path,” said Galtier.

Al Duhail goalkeeper Shehab Ellethi said, “The team has been going through a state of lack of success in the recent period, which clearly affected our results. But I have complete confidence in the ability of my teammates to achieve what is required of them in our next match against Al Wakrah.

“We will play all the remaining matches for us as if they are cup finals in order to achieve victory and reach a top place in the standings. Al Duhail have prominent players, national and overseas professionals, and so far the team has not lost confidence in its abilities and we will make a strong comeback in the upcoming matches to achieve the goals set for us.”