Al-Sadd will face Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia at Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Sports City Stadium on Sunday in the second round of Group B in the King Salman Club Cup, which is being held in Saudi Arabia until Aug. 12.
Speaking during the press conference ahead of the upcoming match against Al-Hilal, head coach of Al-Sadd Bruno Miguel stated, "We are still in the early preparation phase. We'll be facing a strong and formidable opponent. We need thorough preparation for this tournament and the entire season ahead. It's not just us; all the teams are currently in the preparation stage, and the competition is close." He further added, "We expect a difficult and intense encounter against Al-Hilal. Having competed with Al-Hilal's former coach in the Portuguese league, we know each other. I'll prepare my team appropriately, knowing that Al-Hilal applies high pressure and denies the opponent space to maneuver." Regarding the involvement of new players in the match, the Al-Sadd coach clarified, "Yes, there will be new faces in the match against Al-Hilal, but they will be on the substitutes' bench. Only fully fit players will participate in the game." Hassan Al-Haydos, the captain of Al-Sadd, emphasized the significance of the team's upcoming match against Al-Hilal. Al-Haydos stated, "The match on Sunday will undoubtedly be challenging, as we face a championship-winning team. We are eager to engage in these strong encounters to gain valuable experience, especially since we are at the beginning of the season." He continued, "Our aim is to deliver a powerful and commendable performance and secure the three points. In the first round, we admit that we didn't perform at our best against Wydad from Morocco. We missed the opportunity to capitalize on the numerical advantage after they received a red card, as they displayed a solid defensive setup and limited our spaces." Al-Haydos added, "The Wydad match is now behind us, and we will learn from our mistakes as we prepare to face Al-Hilal. As I mentioned earlier, we are still in the early stages of the season, and we are continuously evolving from one match to another. We must leverage our experience and approach tomorrow's match with greater effectiveness."
Source: Qatar News Agency