(MENAFN- The Peninsula) After being knocked out of the Emir Cup by Al Sadd last Friday, Lekhwiya will be hoping to exact some revenge on the Wolves in a first-leg, round of 16 encounter of the AFC Champions League here today.
Former AFC Player of the Year Khalfan Ibrahim could return for Al Sadd but Lekhwiya's coach Michael Laudrup has the enviable problem of struggling to pick the starting 11 because so many of his players are in form.
"All our players have had great performances recently and this will make it hard for me to make a decision about the starting line-up," Laudrup said, adding: "Al Sadd are going to give us a hard time, but I'm hoping that we can defeat them."
The Qatar Stars League champions are surely smarting after the 2-0 defeat to Al Sadd in the semi-final of the Emir Cup shattered Lekhwiya's dreams of achieving a domestic treble. In fact, the two teams have played each other four times in domestic action since August last year, with the Wolves winning three of those clashes - a trend Laudrup and his men will look to remedy.
However, Al Sadd coach Hussein Ammouta didn't make much this record. "The match will be different than the four previous meetings that we had this season against Lekhwiya who will try to avenge their last defeat," he said yesterday.
However, Laudrup believes his boys are ready for anything.
"Our players are ready mentally and physically for the match," he said.
"The match tomorrow is very important as the two sides had impressive performances in the competition; we finished on top of our group while Al Sadd are the runners-up in their group," the Dane said.
"Therefore, the match will not be easy and the fans will expect an interesting encounter. Qatar will definitely have a team in the quarter-finals but I personally hoped not to have this match so early in the competition," he added.
Although Ammouta may have Ibrahim back in the Al Sadd squad, the services of defender Ibrahim Majed, who is out for the rest of the season after having foot surgery, will be missed.
Jasser Yehia will also miss the game after picking up a second yellow card in the group-stage match against Al Hilal.
"There is no doubt that we have a tough match against Lekhwiya," Ammouta said yesterday. "It is a difficult match as we hope to continue our good run in the competition but we have to face a strong team that has shown good performances as well."
"The two sides know each other well and I believe that the match will be decided in the small details which we hope we can work on. We should try our best to avoid the mistakes we made in the semi-final of the Emir's Cup," the Moroccan said.
Ammouta believes it will be a close affair, which will be decided over the course of both legs.
"The match tomorrow will be important but it will not be decisive as there will be a second match to determine the team who will advance to the quarter-finals," he said.
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