After 3-week international window, the Ooredoo Stars League is back running from Friday – with exciting contests and battle for the title hotting up.
With four games left in each side’s championship this year, the 12-team and 22-weeklong league has few more options.
These two domestic giants as well as Al Gharafa, who remain third in the rankings, with a tally of 37 points.
A stumble from any of these teams will help their rivals in a huge way. That leaves little room for error at the business end of the league.
There’s a similar scrimmage in the relegation zone with Al Khor, 7 points bottom-placed and eager to snare a few victories to wriggle out of that dreaded place.
And at the play-off 11th position is Umm Salal at 15 points while Al Arabi (22), Al Wakrah (21) and Qatar SC (21) are also in fear of falling from the 8th, 9th and worth spots respectively.
A pretty interesting scenario where all teams will set out with their plans and may be in search of desired results heading into their matches of Week 19.
Kicking off at same time on Friday, Al Shamal take on Al Shahania at Al Bayt Stadium and Al Khor and vs Umm Salal at Al Janoub.
Al Khor coach Salam Shaker, at a press conference on the eve of their clash with Umm Salal, said they still have hopes and have focused on the pyschological aspect.
“It is quite hard to change the style of play in such a short time, but we have worked on the psychological aspect of players. We will have a style according to the team, the functions and duties of the players, and we have worked a lot with this.”
“As long as there is hope, we will fight to the end and can’t give up. The [Umm Salal] game might be the window for our relegation avoidance. We have analysed Umm Salal strengths and weaknesses from every angle. There won’t be big changes and the team is prepared for this match,” he said.
Jose Murcia, coach of Al Shahania while speaking about their upcoming match against Al Shamal expressed they will go to any lengths to add a few more points.
“The long break was a chance for us to prepare for this important match against Al Shamal. It will be a no-nonsense game between two similar opposition, both with similar ambitions. Both teams are similar and both teams are trying to win, so we will do everything to get three points.”
“This is the biggest game of the season. The players are prepared and I have a lot of faith in them. We just need to keep our head down and play to our plan to win.”
There were a number of absences for us, most importantly Muniesa, Francesco and Ali Al Amri, but our international players like Alhassan Koroma, Shehab Ellethi and Moaz Al Wadia are all fit now,” he said.
Clashes from the top four will take place on Saturday with Al Ahli taking on Al Rayyan, Qatar SC playing Al Arabi, Al Sadd facing Al Wakrah, and Al Gharafa clashing with Al Duhail.
Star Akram Afif is among many players returning from duty with the national team.
Al Duhail will have Almoez Ali back in action and will look to maintain the fine form they have shown so far in the second half of the league.
Al Rayyan’s Roger Guedes leads the gola-scorers’ chart with 16 goals, followed by Al Sadd’s Rafael Mujica (15), and Akram Afif (13). Fourth is Al Ahli’s Julian Draxler, who scored 12.
With the big players set to pull the trigger now, this could very much change in the days to come.
Week 19 Fixtures
Friday (9pm Start): Al Khor v Umm Salal (Al Janoub Stadium); Al Shamal v Al Shahania (Al Bayt Stadium)
Saturday (9pm Start): Al Ahli v Al Rayyan (Al Thumama Stadium); Qatar SC v Al Arabi (Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium); Al Gharafa v Al Duhail (Thani Bin Jassim Stadium); Al Sadd v Al Wakrah (Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium).
Qatar Cup semifinals on April 22, 23
Al Sadd’s Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium will host all matches of the Qatar Cup 2025 semi-final stage from April 22, the Qatar Stars League (QSL) announced yesterday.
The cups will be contested amongst the top four teams in the top flight Ooredoo Stars League (OSL).