Unbeaten Al Rayyan will be looking to stretch their winning of streak of 11 wins when they take on Doha giants Al Sadd in their Qatar Stars League (QSL) clash at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium on Thursday.
Coached by former Al Sadd coach Jorge Fossati, Al Rayyan have been in devastating form on their return to QSL earlier this season, managing
11 successive wins.
"Like always, I trust my players and we will play this game looking for a win," Fossati said in a pre-match press conference on Tuesday.
"In training you cannot be thinking of anything else other than going for a victory. Why should we think of anything negative?," Fossati said.
"We will respect our rivals but focus on getting the win," the experienced Uruguayan said.
"We believe that we will have a very tough game. Al Sadd have very good players and now they have a highly-experienced coach," the former Qatar coach said.
Fossati said Al Sadd should not expect any sentimental show of support for his former employers.
"I have said from the beginning, when I came back to Qatar, that I am grateful to Al Sadd as a club. But having said that, during the game there's no family, no friends just our opponents," Fossati said.
When asked about Asian Champions League ambitions, Fossati said Al Rayyan were only focussing on this Thursday's 'Classico' clash.
"Too early to speak about the Asian Champions League. We prefer to go game by game. That's what I have seen saying since the start of the season," Fossati said.
"Maybe after 20 games or so we can consider about being champions or going to the Champions League. But now is not the time to talk about it," he said.
Al Rayyan's Spanish striker Sergio Garcia said his team was taking one game at a time.
"Our game against Al Sadd will not be easy. They have a new coach. Al Rayyan are taking it one game at a time," Garcia said on Tuesday.
"We played 11 games and taken all points till now and nothing changes for this game. We will continue looking for wins and increase the gap between us and the rest," he added.
"There's no specialty in meeting Xavi. I am friends with him. But we are not playing to defeat Xavi but the Al Sadd team as a whole. There are other players too who are a big threat.
"Thursday is another game for us. we are looking to win that. My team is ready 200 percent. We respect our rivals but we are looking for the win," he added.
Al Sadd coach Jesualdo Ferriera said his was handicapped by a few injuries.
"We have some injuries. But the players are training hard and will be ready for this game," Ferreira said on Tuesday.
"They are trying to understand our philosophy. I will make some changes in my team after the last two results. I have some tactical changes that I want to see in Al Sadd and I will do them in this game," the Portuguese said.
New coach Ferreira said Al Sadd will take time to adjust to his new planning.
"You know that I cannot change the team in a few days. We will need time. Unfortunately we haven't had a good result in the last few games. I am only talking about the result because we did have a good performance. we are trying to give the confidence back to the players," he added.
"These kind of games, it's important to work more than talk. We know that Al Rayyan are much better than Al Sadd at this moment. But in a game between two big teams, anything and everything can happen.
"Not always the team at the top will win such games. No one can predict the result of such games. We will go into the game looking for a win and I am sure Al Rayyan will so the same.
"When teams play at their home stadium, the supporters can help them but here in Qatar it is different," Ferreira said.
"Training can help me as a coach to learn about my players and that will help me pick the best 11 for the match," he added.
The 'Classico' clash kicks off on Thursday at 18:30.
Coached by former Al Sadd coach Jorge Fossati, Al Rayyan have been in devastating form on their return to QSL earlier this season, managing
11 successive wins.
"Like always, I trust my players and we will play this game looking for a win," Fossati said in a pre-match press conference on Tuesday.
"In training you cannot be thinking of anything else other than going for a victory. Why should we think of anything negative?," Fossati said.
"We will respect our rivals but focus on getting the win," the experienced Uruguayan said.
"We believe that we will have a very tough game. Al Sadd have very good players and now they have a highly-experienced coach," the former Qatar coach said.
Fossati said Al Sadd should not expect any sentimental show of support for his former employers.
"I have said from the beginning, when I came back to Qatar, that I am grateful to Al Sadd as a club. But having said that, during the game there's no family, no friends just our opponents," Fossati said.
When asked about Asian Champions League ambitions, Fossati said Al Rayyan were only focussing on this Thursday's 'Classico' clash.
"Too early to speak about the Asian Champions League. We prefer to go game by game. That's what I have seen saying since the start of the season," Fossati said.
"Maybe after 20 games or so we can consider about being champions or going to the Champions League. But now is not the time to talk about it," he said.
Al Rayyan's Spanish striker Sergio Garcia said his team was taking one game at a time.
"Our game against Al Sadd will not be easy. They have a new coach. Al Rayyan are taking it one game at a time," Garcia said on Tuesday.
"We played 11 games and taken all points till now and nothing changes for this game. We will continue looking for wins and increase the gap between us and the rest," he added.
"There's no specialty in meeting Xavi. I am friends with him. But we are not playing to defeat Xavi but the Al Sadd team as a whole. There are other players too who are a big threat.
"Thursday is another game for us. we are looking to win that. My team is ready 200 percent. We respect our rivals but we are looking for the win," he added.
Al Sadd coach Jesualdo Ferriera said his was handicapped by a few injuries.
"We have some injuries. But the players are training hard and will be ready for this game," Ferreira said on Tuesday.
"They are trying to understand our philosophy. I will make some changes in my team after the last two results. I have some tactical changes that I want to see in Al Sadd and I will do them in this game," the Portuguese said.
New coach Ferreira said Al Sadd will take time to adjust to his new planning.
"You know that I cannot change the team in a few days. We will need time. Unfortunately we haven't had a good result in the last few games. I am only talking about the result because we did have a good performance. we are trying to give the confidence back to the players," he added.
"These kind of games, it's important to work more than talk. We know that Al Rayyan are much better than Al Sadd at this moment. But in a game between two big teams, anything and everything can happen.
"Not always the team at the top will win such games. No one can predict the result of such games. We will go into the game looking for a win and I am sure Al Rayyan will so the same.
"When teams play at their home stadium, the supporters can help them but here in Qatar it is different," Ferreira said.
"Training can help me as a coach to learn about my players and that will help me pick the best 11 for the match," he added.
The 'Classico' clash kicks off on Thursday at 18:30.
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