"We achieved a difficult victory against a strong team, and as we expected, the match was not easy because we know that Al Rayyan will fight for their chances of qualifying for the next round,” said Jaissle. 

“I thank the players for the effort they put in the match, and we look forward to benefiting from these matches with the aim of developing more and moving forward in this important tournament in which we seek to go far."

"This victory was important for us and through it we were able to get closer to securing qualification for the Round of 16, and this is what we are striving for, especially since our results are very good so far."

Three consecutive defeats left Al Rayyan head coach Younes Ali frustrated as they face an uphill battle for qualification.

“We know that our fans were waiting for the victory, and so were we, but we gave gifts in the first half, and did not take advantage of the opportunities in the second half, and the result was expressive of the scenario of the two halves,” said Ali.

“The two goals in the first half were due to lack of focus but in the second half, we changed the way we played and tried to come back but we did not take advantage of the opportunities available to us.

“The nature of matches in this competition requires intensity and we fell behind at the beginning of the match. It is unfortunate to make a mistake against players of this level, and the punishment comes immediately.”