Doha: Al Duhail coach Christophe Galtier and Al Gharafa coach Pedro Martins spoke to the media ahead of their 2024-2025 season Ooredoo Stars League Week 8 match. "Of course, the Al Gharafa match is important against one of the teams playing in the AFC Champions League Elite. I watched their last match in the Asian championship and, of course, the Al Gharafa team has great offensive capabilities," Galtier said. "During the last three days, we prepared well for the match, and focused on linking the teams lines and presenting a good performance, unlike what happened during the last Al Ahli match," he added. "One of the positive things is returning to play on our home field. Al Gharafa team may be exhausted due to playing in the AFC Champions League, but playing in the AFC Champions League atmosphere and at high levels certainly gives the players the motivation and incentive to present good levels. Al Gharafa have time, even if it is short, to recover and regain their breath before facing us. "Of course, the competing teams study our method well and work on developing the defensive levels, which we clearly saw during the Al Ahli match and the lack of scoring opportunities, unlike the Al Shahania match, where we had many opportunities but we wasted many of them," said Galtier. For his part, Al Gharafa coach Pedro Martins said "There is one problem related to the injury of player Saifelddin, who was confirmed not to participate in the match due to his injury in the last match against Al Wasl. The players have started preparing for the match and are working with the same strategy. He added "Al Duhail team is presenting a wonderful season and they are playing well with the same ideas of the coach from last season and with the same players. Al Duhail went through an exceptional situation last year because they are usually competing for the title and they are doing a great job, so we know that it will be a difficult match. But we are ready for this type of match and I think it will be an interesting match between two teams, each of which seeks to win." "The fans of The Cheetahs will be by our side. Their support is very important. We are one family," said Martins. Source: Qatar News Agency