Xavi steers Al-Sadd to fifth trophy since he took over Qatari club

Xavi steers Al-Sadd to fifth trophy since he took over Qatari club

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The former Barça midfielder is cleaning up in Qatar

Xavi Hernandez's Al-Sadd won the Qatar Cup 2021 on Friday, beating Al-Duhail 2-0 to make it five trophies since the former Barcelona midfielder took charge.

Both goals were scored by Baghdad Bounedjah, who opened the scoring in the 9th minute and closed it in the 77th on the counter-attack after a pass from Santi Cazorla.

Xavi, who first joined Al-Sadd as a player in 2015, has now won five trophies since taking over as the club's coach last season.

The first arrived in August 2019, when they also beat Al-Duhail (1-0) to win the Sheikh Jassim Cup, the Qatar equivalent of the Spanish Supercopa.

More trophies

Xavi's second trophy was the Qatar Cup 2020, which they won by beating Al-Rayyan 4-1 in the semi-final and Al-Duhail 4-0 in the final just after he turned down the chance to return to Barça.

His third trophy came in October 2020, the Ooredoo Cup, also known as the Prince's Cup. Al-Sadd came through a group stage before beating Qatar SC, Al-Ahli and Al-Arabia (4-0) to win the trophy.

The fourth trophy was the Emir Cup 2020, which arrived in December 2020 after wins against Al-Khavitiyath, Al-Wakrah, Al-Duhail) and, in the final, Al-Arabi.

After winning give, Al-Sadd can set their eyes on the sixth in the coming weeks. They're 13 points clear at the top with just five games to play.

Xavi's side have won nine games in a row and haven't been beaten since Nov. 16, 2020, when they lost to Al-Gharafa in an Ooredoo Cup game. Since then: 16 games, winning 15, drawing one.

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