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Ikoli Victor
Doha
Al Rayyan Sports Club's team coach Rodolfo Arruabarrena says his team's 5-0 defeat in Qatar Clasico to Al Sadd at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium on Saturday is not a true reflection of their game.
Al Rayyan were 0-2 down by half-time after Baghdad Bounedjah and Akram Afif scored a goal each. In the second half, Abdelkarim Hassan, Bounedjah again, and Jung Wooyoung scored the other three goals to complete the rout.
It is the second time Rayyan has suffered an embarrassing defeat with the same scoreline against Al Sadd in two years. In the 2016-2017 season, Bounedjah hat-trick was followed by goals from Xavi Hernandez and Jugurtha Hamroun.
Al Rayyan started the season well with three wins and two draws, failed to maintain their good run as they faltered against fiercest rivals which that will have a negative impact on the players' psychology.
Arruabarrena, in his post-match press conference, said that the result was not a fair reflection of his side's performance."It was a strange result and I have nothing to say about the game because the big result does not reflect what happened in the match where the team had some good opportunities.
"We had our moments and played aggressively but after the third goal was scored the match ended for us.
"It's a disappointment as Al Sadd were a better side than us; we had some situation in the game," he added.
Asked if Rayyan would finish in the top-four considering their sixth position in the table, Arruabarrena said:"We will analyse the situation. Don't judge the team yet because we started well at the beginning of the season. We cannot predict the future of Al Rayyan until the end of the league.
"What happened with the team did not happen in past rounds. We had some players out due to injuries which affected the balance and character of the team. We have to wait for the return of these injured players, and with their return, the team will be better.
Rayyan was without Khalfan Ibrahim, Jonathan Menendez, Gonzalo Viera, and new signing Lucca Borges who was yet to complete his medical.
On the absence of Khalfan, the Argentinean coach said:"Khalfan has a personal problem this week, and I hope he returns to the team next week."
"In the last game Jonathan felt some pain in his leg and for Lucca, we await the result of his medical examination from Aspetar."
Meanwhile, Al Rayyan announced on Sunday that Luca passed his medical test at Aspetar and is to participate with the team in their upcoming games.
"The player will be officially registered on the list of Al Rayan on Monday with the Qatar Football Association," the club tweeted on Sunday.
