Al Sadd ready for Rayyan in Clasico

DOHA AL SADD coach Hussein Ammota believes his team is still some way away from winning the Qatar Stars League crown.

On the eve of the tough match against Al Rayyan, he said he was confident that his team would bounce back through the Clasico and complete a double against the rivals.

There are five matches still to go before the league ends. Al Sadd top the table, while Rayyan are occupying the fourth place.

Ammota has insisted his players can hit back hard after 0-1 defeat against El Jaish at their home and replicate their 4-1 win in the reverse fixture in November 2012.

The former Asian Champions currently lie five points clear of the second- placed Lekhwiya and are as many as 11 points ahead of the fierce rivals Al Rayyan.

In a pre-match press conference on Monday, Ammota said, “We don’t have to introduce this game because everyone knows it’s the Clasico of the Qatari league. With the players we have, I think we can do a good job.

“All the journalists tell me Al Sadd have won the league. This is not true because there are many points to play for. We lost against El Jaish but we were lucky because Lekhwiya drew.

“We are only leading by five points. We should be motivated by this difference because we have to win the game to feel more comfortable in the league. Of course, the result gave us a bad atmosphere but with the difference in points, we are motivated.” Speaking on the significance of the match and quality of the opposition, he said: “The position of both teams doesn’t give any hint as to who will win this game. We lost three points in the last game and they were important points. Now Al Rayyan is strong but Al Sadd always plays well against the strong teams,” Ammota said.

“I’m not afraid of the opponent but the attitude of my players concerns me. Al Rayyan has good players, especially like Neymar, Tabata and Gomo. Lately they have not had good results but they are a good team who always play well,” he added.

Diego Aguirre, coach of Al Rayyan underlined the significance of the match and said his players are ready to go. “This will be a great game. We all love to be involved in these sort of games. Last season all the games were good. Even if we won or lost, it was a good game.

“Both sides will be motivated for this game. There will be no problem for that. We will respect Al Sadd but we have nothing to fear.” Having scored seven goals past Sailiya last week, Aguirre’s boys cannot ask for a better motivation than that. “There is no more pressure on my players because of our result against Al Sailiya. It is not important if you win or lose before facing Al Sadd. It is a special game so we must play very well. Everyone wants to be involved in these games.” “We have a team with good quality and we believe we can win. It is good for us to see these players put in a good performance. No matter whom they are, this game gives every player motivation to do well,” Aguirre added.

In 22 QSL matches since 2004, Al Sadd have won 10 and Rayyan won seven, while five games have been drawn. Al Sadd have been in prolific form, netting 42 goals against Rayyan’s 31.

In the curent season, Brazilian Nilmar, who scored a spectacular hat-trick last week, will hope to add to his 11 league goals. Al Sadd will rely on the diminutive striker Khalfan Ibrahim, who has netted ten goals.

Qatari riches transforms PSG

After years of underachievement, Paris Saint-Germain is making its mark on French football once again, with its new Qatari owners livening up a quiet summer in Ligue 1.

Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) strode into Paris in the close season and bought a 70 percent controlling stake in PSG, with their president Nasser Al-Khelaifi promising "to make PSG a great team and a strong brand on the international scene."

QSI is controlled by the Qatari Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, but he has placed Al-Khelaifi in charge at the Parc des Princes, as president of the club's supervisory board, and Al-Khelaifi appears so far to have made all the right moves.

Brazilian former Inter Milan coach Leonardo has been appointed as sporting director, while former club president Robin Leproux has been removed from his position and Antoine Kombouare has been retained as coach.

These decisions should go down well with PSG supporters already excited by the new financial muscle being flexed by their club.

Leonardo spent the 1996-97 season with PSG and he admitted to feeling proud on his return to the Parc, saying: "I'm really happy because I was chosen by people who really want to do something special.

"I'm happy to be part of this project. I had 14 very intense months here as a player and it was difficult to leave Paris. Today, being here makes me very happy."

Fans are pleased to see him back, and many will be pleased to see the back of Leproux.

If Leonardo wanted Leproux out for fear that the pair would step on each others' toes in transfer dealings, PSG's hardcore fans wanted rid of him because of the work he had done to repair the club's off-field image in his nearly two years at the helm.

It was he who blocked the renewal of 13,000 season-tickets in an effort to end a turf war between rival supporter groups that had reached a nadir with the murder of a fan before a game against Marseille in February 2010.

Crowds naturally declined as a result, and the ultras who were targeted will be placated by Leproux's departure.

Fans will also be pleased to see that Kombouare remains in charge, even if it remains to be seen how much patience QSI are prepared to show if the team starts slowly.

QSI may well have doubts about Kombouare's international appeal, but he is a cult hero at PSG, having won a league title, two French Cups and a League Cup during a five-year stint as a player in the capital in the 1990s.

And, while PSG's more recent history is one of underachievement, the signs are there that things are improving under Kombouare after he led the team to fourth place in Ligue 1 last season.

Leonardo's appointment was not finalised until mid-July, but no time has been wasted in terms of squad rebuilding.

Rennes goalkeeper Nicolas Douchez and Lorient striker Kevin Gameiro were recruited before Leonardo's arrival, while the deals to sign Valenciennes' defender Milan Bisevac, Blaise Matuidi from Saint-Etienne and Jeremy Menez from Roma had reportedly been instigated by Leproux before his departure.

Leonardo then moved swiftly to add Juventus midfielder Mohamed Sissoko and another goalkeeper, Salvatore Sirigu, from Palermo.

While publicly playing down his side's prospects, Kombouare is reported to have told his players that the title is the objective, and Paris must have a great chance, especially as more major signings are expected before the transfer window shuts.

Next up is set to be Argentine international Javier Pastore, after PSG agreed to pay his club Palermo a fee that could reach 43 million euros, a French record.

The City of Lights has long lacked a football team to match its own exalted stature on the European scene, but that could all be about to change, and French football, which has seen several top stars move abroad in the close season, will be all the better for it.