By Sports Reporter/Doha


Legendary midfielder Xavi Hernandez, will for the first time be seen in action at the Qatar Stars League today, when he takes the field for Al Sadd, who travel to Mesaimeer for their opening fixture.
Al Sadd are overwhelming favourite against Mesaimeer, who one of the newly-promoted sides to Qatar’s top flight. But all eyes, expectedly will be on Xavi. The central midfielder, 35, left Spanish giants Barcelona after 24 years on the club’s books to join the Qatari side and will be a centre figure not just for Al Sadd but also for the QSL.
Al Sadd’s coach Hussein Ammota called Xavi as the leader of the attack, ahead of his team’s opening fixture. “I cannot say enough about his class, as he is a well-known as a global star. But I will talk about his response to the Al Sadd players; he is a new leader for the team. His goal and team’s goal is to compete for the league title and I hope he gels well with the players on the pitch quickly to achieve all of our aims,” Ammota said.
The head coach said his team’s aim want to settle nothing for other than title this season. “We are here to win all titles that we are eligible to compete for and I have demanded from the players that we secure a win and get all three points in our first game. With smaller teams we must always remain vigilant and remember that they too could attack and score.”
“We are currently missing eight international players but at Al Sadd we are used to this, we always try to support the national teams as much as we can. It cost us dear last year but this is football,” he added.
Ammota refused to take Mesaimeer very lightly. “The match will not be easy and it is difficult to predict the result, especially as our opponents may be enthusiastic as it’s their first time in this league. We must be wary of them and the players must be vigilant in defence and attack. Nobody forgets that we lost to Shahania last season and also drew with Al Shamal,” he noted.
Meanwhile, Mesaimeer coach Rodion Gacanin said their time at QSL this season is an ideal opportunity for his players to learn and adapt to the highest level of football. “This will be our first game in the Qatar Stars League and we face one of the toughest opponents in Al Sadd. However it will be a good opportunity to assess how good we are and how good the best teams in the league will be this season.”
“Since I arrived here, I have been asked many times if we can survive in this league, as a coach my job is to prepare my team as much as possible in the two months I had.  There is no doubt that our first aim is to secure enough points to stay in this league. I believe in my teams abilities and I think we can achieve our aim.”
“The game will be tough as we don’t possess the same number of high quality players that they do, this is a tough league for sure. We will employ a defensive strategy which will hopefully frustrate the likes of Xavi and company but how long we can hold out for is going to be the key, I hope we stay disciplined.”