Al Rayyan are seeking their first final in the Qatar Cup after ending up third in the QNB Stars League.

The Lions were very much in the league title race, especially till the end of first phase of the campaign when they and Al Sadd were almost neck and neck, with the duo being close behind leaders Al Duhail.

However, they lost plot in the second phase and went completely out of contention following their 0-2 defeat at the hands of Al Sadd in the second-phase Qatar Clasico in Week 16, ultimately finishing behind Al Duhail and Al Sadd with 43 points from 13 wins, four draws and five defeats.

Michael Laudrup’s men were unlucky in the Qatar Cup in the last two editions, bowing out in the semifinals.

They lost 1-3 to erstwhile Lekhwiya in the 2015-16 season and then suffered defeat at the hands of eventual champions Al Sadd the following season.

In fact, Al Rayyan had won the first tournament that was held during the 1994-95 season under the name Golden Cup, beating Al Arabi in the final. Next season, it became the Heir Apparent’s Cup that was renamed in the 2013-14 season as Qatar Cup.

It is against this backdrop that Al Rayyan will embark on their Qatar Cup campaign this time. And they will face Al Sadd for the second year in a row.

Al Rayyan had many positive results to show for their efforts, including their 2-1 first-phase Qatar Clasico victory over Al Sadd. However, they did not have that great a second phase.

From 11 rounds, they could win only five games while drawing three matches and losing as many. Their total tally was 54 goals for and 39 against.

Al Rayyan were as inconsistent in a few matches as they were consistent in many. While they pulled off some incredible wins and even held champions Al Duhail 3-3 in Week 14, they dropped points in unexpected fashion. The 0-2 loss to Al Ahli in Week 11, 1-6 defeat to Al Gharafa in Week 19 and 2-2 draw with Al Sailiya in Week 17 are some examples.

Ahead of the Qatar Cup, they suffered a setback when their top scorer Abderrazaq Hamdallah was ruled out for the rest of the season with an ankle injury.

The Moroccan, the third best scorer in the just-concluded QNB Stars League with 18 goals (after Al Duhail’s Youssef El Arabi and Youssef Msakni), sustained the injury during their 4-1 win over Al Ahli in Week 22.

The injury-enforced layoff of Hamdallah will be a big blow to them in the forthcoming Emir’s Cup and also AFC Champions League, where they host Al Ain in the last round on 16th April with an eye on the Round of 16 berth.

However, Al Rayyan have the likes of Rodrigo Tabata, Sebastian Soria, Mohamed Alaaeldin, Ahmed Yasser, Ahmed Abdelmaqsoud, Koh Myong-Jin, Mohsine Moutaouli and Daniel Goumou to deliver the goods.