Al Sadd coach Xavi Hernandez expressed his dissatisfaction after his side’s 1-1 draw with Iranian side Foolad Khouzestan, in their first round clash in Group D of the 2021 AFC Champions League.
Speaking during the post-match press conference, Xavi said: “I am unhappy with the result we got. Our goal was to win. We played against a difficult and effective team, and we competed strongly.”
The Al Sadd coach added: “We are playing against the best teams in Asia, and today we got a point that may be useful in the future. We must improve in the next match and compete better.”
Regarding the impact of Akram Afif’s absence from the team, he said: “Of course we miss Akram, who is the best player in Qatar and Asia, but it will not be an excuse. We played well and got many opportunities, but Foolad defended well.”
Xavi also had some words on the pitch conditions. “The ground condition was not good and did not help us play in our usual way. We faced many difficulties because of that, and the AFC should pay attention to that.”
Asked about the unavailability of the broadcast of the match for Qatari fans, Xavi said: “This is something I cannot understand. I cannot imagine that the fans in Qatar could not watch the match, this is not logical.”
