Xavi: Facing Al Shamal was not easy

Al-Sadd head coach Xavi Hernandez spoke of the difficulty of facing Al-Shamal, despite his side’s big 7-2 victory over them in Round 4 of the QNB Stars League.

In his statement after the match, Xavi said: “The match was not easy at all, despite the great victory. Al-Shamal is an excellent and well-organized team, and everyone suffers against them. But we succeeded in imposing our control over the match and got a deserved victory.”

The coach added: “In the first half, we relaxed, but in the second half we were better and gave a good performance and scored more goals.”

Xavi expressed his happiness at taking the lead at the top of the table, and said: “I’m happy we have taken the lead. We came away today without injuries and many players participated in the match, including young players, and all of these things give us more confidence and continuity.”

Xavi concluded by saying: “The upcoming derby match against Al Arabi will be difficult, but we are currently going through moments and our goal is always to win all matches.”