BY RIZWAN REHMAT
DOHA: Qatar Stars League (QSL) champions Lekhwiya, who sealed their fourth title win in five years on Sunday, are keen to end their season with 60 points when they take on Al Sailiya in their final QSL clash tomorrow.
“If you look at the numbers (you will see) it was a tough season. In the last game if we can win or even draw we will touch 60 points in a season and that would be incredible,” Danish coach Michael Laudrup said yesterday.
In his first season as coach, Laudrup guided Lekhwiya to a tile win when they beat Al Ahli 3-1 on Sunday. Lekhwiya have 59 points from 25 matches. Former champions Al Sadd have 54 points.
“Last season when we won the league we had 53 points and Jaish had 48,” the 50-year-old Dane said.
“This season with one game remaining we have already taken 59 points.
“We have gotten more points this season as compared to the last. That gives an indication of how much harder it has been this season,” he added.
Laudrup said the 2014-15 QSL season was full of ‘challenges’.
“This is not about how this title ranks. It is about how difficult it was. There were a lot of challenges this season,” Laudrup said.
“We had national competitions. We had players injured. It was very, very tough. We came back from five points behind. It’s only because we were strong as a team.
“You can’t compare with the Spanish League or the Premier League. This was tough because there were many things that we had to deal with during the season. Lots of bumps on the road you could say,” he added.
Laudrup said helping Lekhwiya bag the QSL title for the fourth time in five seasons was satisfying.
“We have had a great run in the league this season. Most of it has been a head to head battle with Al Sadd,” Laudrup said.
“Before Christmas, they were five points ahead but then we came back and we won the league five points ahead of them. This has been a fantastic season for us in the league.
“This season we had two competitions for the national team, the GCC Cup and both us and Al Sadd have had many players playing for these competitions and our performance goes on to show how well these two teams have done this season,” he explained.
Laudrup seemed wary of Lekhwiya players becoming complacent against Al Sailiyah tomorrow.
“Having won the title, there is a chance that our performance might drop because we will be playing without pressure,” Laudrup said.
“So it is most important for us to maintain a high level of performance against Sailiyah.
“It’s not important to win but we should get at least a draw from this game. We lost our last game in February which is a long time ago. So it is very important for us to maintain our level,” he said.
“It is true we will miss very important players like Karim Boudiaf, Msakni but we will have Sebastian Soria, Nam Tae-Hee and Vladimir Weiss back.
“And it is also a chance for other players who haven’t done well to step up,” he said.
Laudrup said he is ready to turn his attention to other events remaining in the season.
“I have always been driven by winning. Otherwise as a player I would have not have played for 15 years in top clubs,” Laudrup said.
“To stay up there we needed
to have the hunger to keep winning.
“But just for a few days we have to enjoy our title. Because after that we then have many games lined up with the ACL, Qatar Cup, and then the Emir Cup,” he added. THE PENINSULA
