Al Sadd captain Hassan Al Haydos (left) practises with the ball as Xavi Hernandez (second right) looks on during a training session.
Al Sadd’s head coach Xavi Hernandez said consistency would be the key if Al Sadd are to progress to the Round of 16 as he side takes on Al Wehdat in 2021 AFC Champions League Group D fixture at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, today.
Al Sadd have endured a mixed campaign, needing a late goal to salvage a point against Foolad before being comprehensively beaten by Al Nassr 3-1 on Matchday Two.
The Qatar champions, however, rediscovered their best form against Al Wehdat and will be aiming for another three points. The Spanish legend urged his players to show the intensity they did in the first half against Al Wehdat on Monday.
Al Sadd had 14 shots from inside the box against Al Wehdat and if they can play at the same level and get a win today, they will approach their final two matches against Foolad and Al Nassr confident of advancing to the Round of 16 as the group winners.
“This is another important match for us, and we’re treating this like the final. From my experience, it’s difficult to win against the same team twice in a row. But we’ve been doing well, especially in the last game, where we did excellent in the first half, and not so well in the second half,” said Xavi.
“In the first match, we played well in the first 60 minutes, and in the second match, we played better in the second half, then we played brilliantly in the first half of the last match. Now, our target is to play well for all 90 minutes."
“I expect tomorrow (today) to be difficult because Al Wehdat played well in the second half, and they’ll be for sure playing attack tomorrow. But it’s okay, we have four points, it all depends on ourselves, and our main target is to qualify for the knockout rounds.”
Al Wehdat started their debut campaign with a 0-0 draw against Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr, but that was followed by defeats to Islamic Republic of Iran’s Foolad Khouzestan FC (1-0) and Qatar’s Al Sadd (3-1) and another defeat would dash the Jordan side’s hopes of advancing.
“In the last match against Al Sadd we shared control, Al Sadd controlled in the first half in terms of performance and result, and scored three goals, then in the second half we dominated but wasted several chances and only managed to score a goal,” said Al Wehdat head coach Abdullah Abu Zema.
“The two teams knows each other now, and there are no secrets between us, and I guess now the level of fitness will have an effect as each team has played three matches."
