Al Ain's Moroccan striker Sofiane Rahimi stated that his team approaches each match individually, emphasizing that all games are played with a final mentality, and the only goal is to win. Rahimi said in a press conference after the match with Ajman: "Al Ain entered the match with high focus to resolve things early and avoid any pressure that might arise from a delayed goal. The goal we scored after just six minutes gave the players a significant advantage and helped control the match's flow, despite the opponent's difficulty." He added: "We have five days before the match with Al Ahli. This is the most important game for us this season, as it's against a direct competitor. I hope we show maximum readiness to win this match, which I believe is the key to clinching the league title." Recall that Al Ain returned to the top of the UAE Pro League table after a 2-0 victory over Ajman in the 21st round. Al Ain now has 53 points, one ahead of Al Ahli before their upcoming match in the 22nd round. Ajman's points remained at 24. Sofiane Rahimi scored Al Ain's first goal, while Laba Kodjo added the second. Meanwhile, Ajman's captain Ali Al Hosni stated that the loss to Al Ain does not diminish the efforts made by the players throughout both halves. Al Wasl's coach Rui Vitória confirmed the difficulty of accepting the 1-2 defeat against Sharjah in the 21st round. Vitória said his team started the match easily but complicated it for themselves, noting that Al Wasl gave Sharjah the momentum to get back into the match despite being ahead. At the post-match press conference, he added: "Al Wasl looked good in the first half, was the better side, controlled the game, and created many chances. But things changed in the second half, where Sharjah managed to equalize and then score the winning goal." Vitória congratulated Sharjah on the win, noting that it's hard to explain what happened in the second half and whether overconfidence led to the performance drop. He explained: "I can't get into the players' minds to know what happened, but I warned them between halves about Sharjah's attackers' speed and the possibility of them scoring if we made any mistake, and that's exactly what happened."
