Al Arabi coach Cosmin Contra spoke to the media ahead of their 2025-2026 Doha Bank Stars League Week 19 match against Al Sadd.

“This match requires special psychological preparation. We respect Al Sadd as a great team and the league leaders, but our goal is clear: to return to winning ways and make up for our recent results.

“Al Sadd’s recent loss does not mean they have declined; on the contrary, it will motivate them to come into the match with a strong desire to make amends. This necessitates extreme caution and high defensive discipline from us. During training, we have worked on addressing our attacking weaknesses to ensure we capitalize on even half-chances in front of the opponents’ goal.

“The players understand the importance of this match and we will enter the game with only one goal in mind: victory,” said Cosmin.

Al Arabi player Alexis Perez said, “We are fully aware of the responsibility in these matches, they do not follow the usual patterns and require double the mental focus. We respect Al Sadd as the league leaders, but we will enter the field with a high fighting spirit to seize the win and get back on track after our recent draw.”