Al Duhail coach Christophe Galtier spoke to the media ahead of their 2024-2025 season Ooredoo Stars League Week 18 match against Al Ahli.

“Of course, our match against Al Ahli will be difficult after the strong match the team played against them in the first leg. Al Ahli have technical capabilities and high experience capable of making a difference at any moment.

“I spoke with the players that we must work for ourselves without looking at the other competing teams. During this week, the preparations were at a high and precise level. I stressed to everyone that we must be fully prepared for the match.

“Of course, Al Ahli have good players, but we must first trust ourselves and work on correcting previous mistakes in general. We must address the gaps that we fall into, especially on the defensive side, in addition to working positively on the offensive side. We respect our competitors, but we also respect the capabilities of our team. We will play the match with great focus and play on our competitors’ weaknesses.

“There is indeed fluctuation in the overall level of the team, but we are working hard to address the mistakes. The important thing is that we are still achieving victories even if it is at the expense of performance, and of course this reflects the strength of the team’s character and its ability to deal with challenges,” said Galtier.

Al Duhail striker and captain Almoez Ali said, “As the coach mentioned, our matches against Al Ahli are always strong. It will be like a final match on our home ground and in front of our fans. We will work hard to address the mistakes we made during the match against Al Shahania, as the technical director mentioned, and work to develop the collective aspect and exploit opportunities in order to obtain the three points of the match.

“I am not worried about the lack of goals this season. I am a winger at Al Duhail and my role is to support my teammates in defence and attack, and the most important thing is the team’s victory. We do not focus on individual goals at Al Duhail and we always focus on collective goals.”