Al Duhail coach Christophe Galtier spoke to the media ahead of their 2024-2025 season Ooredoo Stars League Week 1 match against Qatar SC.

“We are back to activity again after a break, during which we went through a period of preparations that were good and I am very satisfied with it. We were missing a final friendly match to increase reassurance about the condition of our players, but the camp in general was very good.

“Harmony and understanding were good between the players who implemented all instructions of technical staff and now we have entered the stage of official matches, and we must start the season well. There are 22 matches awaiting us in the league and it is very important that we start the tournament with a victory, and our start will be against Qatar SC, who are a good team and it will be a strong match from both teams.

“Everyone in the club has the desire to present a distinguished season and I, for my part, am in constant contact with the team management and we are looking into everything related to the team. Everyone in the club has a role that they must perform and we have made adjustments to the team and the management is providing everything available in order to adjust the players’ conditions.

“Football is witnessing movement during this registration period and from here comes the news about the transfer of players, especially in Europe. But here, the matter is different and the laws are different and there is a limited number of players, so we must leave them the freedom to move.

“We succeeded in contracting with Luis Alberto, who is a great player coming to us from the Italian League and has the ability to present himself in the required manner, and this appeared during the matches that we played in the training camp in Austria, as he was always linking all the lines of the field and providing great assistance to the attackers. He will play in place of Brazilian star Coutinho, who was hit by injuries, but he succeeded in presenting a good level in the matches he played with us,” said Galtier.

Al Duhail player Almoez Ali said, “We are waiting for a difficult match against a team that succeeded in achieving victory over us twice in the previous season, and we must be at the peak of our focus on the field in order to achieve a result that will please our fans.

“We are ready for the start of the season in a good way after we played a number of friendly matches in our training camp that we held in Austria, in which the players appeared well and it was clear that they were focused and determined to present a good season, which will happen with everyone’s solidarity and continuous work in order to compensate for what happened in the previous season.

“During the past seasons, I and my international colleagues were absent from participating in the team’s preparatory camps due to the national teams’ commitments. This is the first time in six years that I have been with the team during the preparatory period. This will certainly be of great benefit because the camp created harmony between all the players and from it we learned the technical staff’s strategy, which will benefit me and give me the motivation to be effective in the team’s lineup and help my colleagues return to the path of victories and win championships.

“Although we will not participate in the Champions League for the first time this season, we will turn this matter into a motivation for us to win titles. All I hope for is that my colleagues are spared from injuries. Now our thoughts are focused on our first match and how to come out of it with a positive result.

“Last season, Coutinho appeared with us and he is a great player, but injuries did not give him the opportunity to give his full efforts to the team. However, this season, Luis Alberto joined us and he is a great player and will be a great addition to the team. I am sure that he will perform at a good level after he shone with us in the friendly matches.”