The sixth round of the Qatari Football League (I Want Stars League) will witness two promising summits tomorrow (Thursday), as defending champion Al Sadd will meet Al Gharafa, while Al Rayyan will clash with Al Arabi.
The six round matches will be held tomorrow (Thursday) and the day after tomorrow (Friday), amid a mixed discussion between reinforcement and compensation.
Al Sadd will have to compensate for a disappointing appearance in the last round, after suffering a heavy defeat against leaders Al Duhail by five goals to one, which cast a negative shadow on the team, which makes it required a different appearance in order to correct the course.
Al-Sadd had a modest start to the new version of the league, perhaps the worst for the team that won the tournament (17 times) in years, as the last round’s loss was the third against two victories, so its score froze at the sixth point, which caused it to fall to seventh place, 9 away. Full points from the leaders, and the team will need great efforts during the next stage in order to regain the chances of defending the title it held in the last edition.
On the other hand, Al-Gharafa hopes to maintain the gains of the victory it achieved in the last round at the expense of Qatar Club by three goals to one, raising its score to the eighth point, which placed it in fourth place.
Al-Gharafa had overcome previous local and continental stumbles, as it had contented itself with a draw with Al-Shamal in the penultimate round of the league by a goal for the same, before falling into the trap of a heavy loss in the AFC Champions League for the elite, by three unanswered goals against the Iranian Esteghlal in Tehran at the beginning of the journey.
Al-Gharafa’s victory over Qatar Club in the last round witnessed the first appearance of Algerian star Yacine Ibrahimi with the team after he missed the previous five matches (4 in the league and one in the Asian Elite League), so the team regained a lot of effectiveness and efficiency, as Ibrahimi contributed directly to the victory after scoring. He scored one goal and made another, while former Spanish Real Madrid star Joselu scored the third goal, his first with the team since joining the beginning of the current season, to regain a lot of confidence and morale before the important confrontation against Al Sadd tomorrow.
In another no less prestigious summit, Al-Arabi meets Al-Rayyan in a traditional confrontation that is not devoid of historical heritage between the two teams, in search of correcting the course.
Al-Arabi will be required to turn the page on the stumbles in the past five rounds, during which they were satisfied with four draws, compared to a heavy loss to Al-Sadd by five without a response, to collect only four points, which placed them in a late position, ninth on the ranking ladder.
Al-Arabi had avoided losing to Al-Ahly in the last moments, as Tunisian substitute Youssef Msakni scored a goal in the sixth minute of stoppage time, forcing a draw with three goals for their counterparts, in the first match under the leadership of Englishman Anthony Hodson, the replacement for coach Younes Ali, who ended the administration. He was contracted by mutual consent after a draw with Al-Khor in the fourth round before the last.
Al Rayyan does not appear to be in the best condition after suffering a loss in the last round against Al Gharafa with two unanswered goals, which is their third in the current season, compared to two victories, to collect six points, occupying eighth place, which is not worthy of the runner-up of the last edition of the league, which prompted the management to take the decision to terminate the contract. With Spanish coach Boya Espagi by mutual consent.
Al Rayyan did not appear in the expected image at the beginning of its journey in the AFC Champions League for the elite, after suffering a loss at home at Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium against Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia by three goals to one, so it became in dire need of regaining confidence before going into the second difficult confrontation in the continental championship against Al Nassr of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh on Monday. /Next.
In another match, for the sixth round of the Qatari Football League (Areed Stars League), the leaders, Al Duhail, are looking to continue their perfect start, when they face Al Shahaniya, which is suffering in last place.
Al-Duhail had maintained its high standards since the start of the season, and presented its best performance after achieving a clear and broad victory over Al-Sadd, the defending champion, by five goals to one, the fifth in a row, to obtain the full mark by reaching point 15, which gave it leadership of the standings, four points behind Al-Ahly. the second.
On the other hand, Al-Shahania suffered a new loss, the third in a row, in exchange for two draws, so that their score froze at the second point and remained in last place.
Al-Wakrah, ecstatic with a valuable victory over Al-Rayyan with two unanswered goals, will meet Al-Khor looking for compensation after losing to Al-Shamal by two goals to one.
Al-Wakrah presented a classy display in the last round, in the first matches under the leadership of coach Ali Rahma Al-Marri, replacing the sacked Spaniard Miguel Angel, as the team appeared in a completely different way than it was during the loss to Iranian Tractor by three unanswered goals at Al-Janoub Stadium at the beginning of the league championship campaign. Asian Champions 2, scoring a well-deserved victory that raised the balance to the eighth point, occupying fifth place.
On the other hand, Al-Khor is still rising to the limelight as champion of the second division league, searching for its first victory, as it achieved three draws versus two losses to collect three points that placed it in tenth place.
In another confrontation, Al-Ahly hopes to restore the winning tone after tying with Al-Arabi in the last round, when it meets Al-Shamal, looking for a second successive victory, in an awaited confrontation.
Al-Ahly is performing very well, recording an ideal start to the current edition, achieving three victories and two draws, to collect 11 points that put it in second place in the ranking table. On the other hand, Al-Shamal enters the match with great moral motivation after defeating Al-Khor in the last round by two goals to one, reaching the seventh point, occupying sixth place.
Umm Salal looks forward to continuing its distinguished results when it meets Qatar Club, which is looking to correct the course after two losses.
Umm Salal had achieved its second victory in a row after beating Al Shahaniya in the last round by four goals to two, raising its score to the ninth point and becoming third in the standings. On the other hand, Qatar Club suffered a loss to Al Gharafa, leaving its score at three points in the penultimate position.
In terms of scorers, Spaniard Rafa Mujica (Al Sadd), Algerian Baghdad Bounedjah (Al Shamal), and Edmilson Junior (Al Duhail) share the top scorers with 5 goals each.
Three players scored 4 goals each: Kenyan Michael Olunga (Al-Duhail), Croatian Antonio Mansi (Umm Salal), and German Julian Draxler (Al-Ahly).
Five players scored three goals: Brazilian Roger Guedich (Al Rayyan), Al Moez Ali (Al Duhail), Ahmed Alaa (Al Arabi), Omar Sekou (Al Ahly), and Algerian Victor Lakhal (Umm Salal).
Al-Duhail leads the team standings with 15 points, then Al-Ahly comes in second place with 11 points, Umm Salal is third with 9 points, Al-Gharafa and Al-Wakrah are in fourth and fifth places with 8 points each, Al-Shamal is sixth with 7 points, and Al-Sadd is seventh with 6 points, and with the same score, they finished. Al Rayyan is in eighth place on goal difference, then Al Arabi is in ninth place with 4 points, followed by Al Khor and Qatar Club in tenth and eleventh place, each with 3 points, then Al Shahaniya in twelfth and last place with two points.