Al Rayyan coach Leonardo Jardim spoke to the media ahead of their 2023-2024 season Expo Stars League Week 20 match against Muaither.

“Al Rayyan’s goals this season have become clear, which is to play in the AFC Champions League next season. Of course, we are close to reserving our place among the top four in the standings. But this is not only the goal, so we have to get more points in the remaining matches to be one of the qualifiers for the AFC Champions League.

“The next match against Muaither is very important and we must win three points, so we must give everything we have in this match in order to achieve victory.

“I hope that the crowd attendance against Muaither will be higher than what he saw during the last Al Duhail match, where we were without Abdulaziz Hatem, Tabata, Thiago Mendes, Tamim Mansour, Rodrigo Moreno and Osama Al Tairi. In this match they will be added to the absence of Ahmed Al Rawi and Nayef Al Hadrami and in football what is important is who will play the match and who will be on the bench. If the result is not positive, no one will remember the injuries or absences in the team, said Jardim.

Al Rayyan player Khaled Muftah said, “We prepare for every match with special preparation and we are fully prepared for this match in order to win.

“The team’s ambition this season is to finish the Expo Stars League among the top four and to win a title.”