Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Doha: Lekhwiya coach Michael Laudrup is struggling to name his starting line-up for the club’s AFC Champions League Round of 16 meeting with fellow Qataris Al Sadd on Tuesday.
The two teams face off in a re-run of Friday’s semi-finals in the Emir’s Cup, which Al Sadd won 2-0 to qualify for the final and deny Lekhwiya the opportunity of completing the domestic league and cup double.
Lekhwiya won the Qatar Stars League title by five points from Al Sadd but have only beaten the former AFC Champions League winners once in four meetings so far this season.
But former Barcelona and Real Madrid midfielder Laudrup (pictured) believes the impressive form of his players will make picking his starting 11 a difficult challenge ahead of the meeting at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium.
“All our players have had great performances recently and this will make it hard for me to make a decision about the starting line-up,” said the Dane. “Al Sadd are going to give us a hard time, but I’m hoping that we can defeat them.”
Defender Mohammed Tresor will be available for selection for Laudrup after missing the 3-1 win over Al Nassr on Matchday Six of the group stages due to suspension.
Lekhwiya won Group A ahead of Iran’s Persepolis and will host the second leg of the meeting with Al Sadd but while the all-Qatar clash means the nation will have one team in the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League, Laudrup was hoping the sides would meet later in the tournament.
“Our players are ready mentally and physically for the match,” he said. “The match tomorrow is very important as the two sides had impressive performances in the competition as we finished on top of our group while Al Sadd are the runners-up in their group.
“Therefore, everything means that the match will not be easy and the fans will expect an interesting encounter.
“Qatar will definitely have a team in the quarter-finals but I personally hoped not to have this match so early in the competition.”
Photo: WSG