Portuguese coach Artur Jorge of Al Rayyan expressed his deep sadness following the team’s loss to Al Ahli Saudi in the second leg of the AFC Champions League elite round of 16, despite the team’s outstanding performance. During the post-match press conference, he said: “I congratulate Al Ahli on their qualification. This match followed the same scenario as what happened in Doha. We played a fantastic match, but the result wasn’t good. We performed well and had opportunities to score. When we came close to attacking, they scored from counterattacks.”
Regarding the reason for Trezeguet’s substitution, he indicated that the team plays as a group and that he tried to refresh the team’s energy, as the team played well before his exit and continued to play well after the change. He emphasized that the result is attributed to the entire team and not to a specific player.
He stressed that the team needs such strong matches to gain the necessary experience and participate in such tournaments.