After an historic and intriguing start to the west zone of AFC Champions League over the past week, it’s time for clubs in the east to start their campaigns and the storylines look just as tantalising.
While the tournament still grapples with the COVID pandemic, which saw Chinese club Shanghai Port withdraw on the eve of the competition and other Chinese clubs send their youth teams for a second consecutive year – something which surely must draw a rebuke from AFC such does it undermines the tournament – the presence of fans in the stands across Southeast Asia over the next three weeks should hopefully give this year’s tournament a much-needed boost.
To deal with the lingering effects of COVID the tournament will once again be held in centralised locations, with hubs in Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia helping get the tournament underway.
Can BG make home advantage count?
It’s in Thailand where a lot of the interest will be, with three of the five groups to be staged in the Southeast Asian nation.
While Chiangrai United, in Group J, will play their matches in Buriram, only BG Pathum United will have proper home ground advantage with their Pathum Thani Stadium set to host all matches from Group G involving Australia’s Melbourne City, South Korea’s Jeonnam Dragons and the Philippines United City FC.
Now under the tutelage of former Vegalta Sendai coach Makoto Teguramori, it’s a group that represents an enormous opportunity for The Rabbits, who made it to the Round of 16 last year where they only lost on penalties to Korean powerhouse Jeonbuk Hyundai.
Looking to defend their Thai League title, the instability off the park did the team no favours. After a slow start, Aurelio Vidmar, who had been appointed to replace former manager Dusit Chalermsan for their previous AFC Champions League campaign, had steadied the ship and had the team back in the top three just over a third of the way through the season.
But the writing was on the wall for Vidmar when Chalermsan, who was coaching Port FC, resigned to take up the position of Team Manager back at BG Pathum United. Within days Vidmar was gone and Chalermsan was back in charge.
What followed was a winless streak of six matches, dropping BG down to fifth, and precipitated another managerial change, with Teguramori taking over in January for the second half of the season.
The presence of the Japanese has brought some stability back to the club, and it has been reflected in their form with a undefeated streak that now extends to 15, displaying the type of attacking football that a club with their attacking riches should be playing.
Ikhsan Fandi (pictured above) has been a fantastic mid-season addition, with his four goals in 12 minutes against Prachuap recently continuing a hot run of form for club and country. Then there is the experience of Diogo and Teerasil Dangda.
With Irfan Fandi, brother of Ikhsan, and veteran Andrez Tunez providing a solid foundation at the back and a midfield that includes the control of Chaowat Veerachat and Sarach Yooyen, and creativity of Pathompol Charoenrattanapirom and Worachit Kanitsribampen, there is plenty to like.
Whether Teguramori will adopt the same attacking philosophy as he has in the Thai League remains to be seen. Since he took charge in late February, BG has won six and drawn one of his seven games in charge, scoring 19 and conceding just four.
Their opening match is against arguably the strongest team in the group in Australia’s Melbourne City, who are marching towards back-to-back titles. That match should tell us plenty about how both teams will fare during this campaign.
City’s Challenge
Speaking of Melbourne City, for a club that has been desperate to appear on the continental stage to further the CFG vision, they will not get a better chance to make an impression than they will this season.
Coincidentally, they are one of three clubs under the CFG banner competing in the ACL this year, alongside Mumbai City (India) and Yokohama F.Marinos (Japan), while a fourth club, Al Jazira (UAE), are directly owned by Sheikh Mansour himself.
This despite AFC regulations expressly stating, in Section 9.12.3 of the Entry Manual for AFC Club Competitions, that: “no individual or legal entity may have control or influence over more than one (1) participating club.”
I mean, Mumbai City and Al Jazira are drawn in the same group. If that doesn’t scream conflict I’m not sure what does.
Then again, there never has been a problem CFG’s army of expensive lawyers couldn’t fix.
Back to on-field matters, and while it’s a fools game to underestimate any team, in United City (Philippines) and Jeonnam Dragons (from Korea’s second division) City have been handed the best draw possible and avoided any of the heavy hitters of the continent and with the talent at their disposal, there’s no reason City shouldn’t be heading into both those games as the favourite.
As touched on above, BG Pathum United are the wildcard in the group and look to be City’s biggest challenger for automatic progression.
That being said, they have been hit with injury at the worst time possible. Aiden O’Neill and Florin Berenguer both went down medium-long term injuries over the past week, and the absence of both, particularly Frenchman Berenguer, who has been one of City’s best this season, will hurt.
Connor Metcalfe, who made his Socceroos debut recently, tested positive for COVID upon arrival in Bangkok and is currently isolating in Bangkok.
But it speaks to City’s depth that they still have the likes of Jamie Maclaren, Mathew Leckie, Andrew Nabbout and Marco Tilio fit and available. If Metcalfe can recover quickly to play the majority of the group stage that will be a big bonus for Patrick Kisnorbo as he looks the guide City to the knockout stage at the first time of asking.
While City’s loss to local rivals Melbourne Victory in their last A-League Men’s encounter before departing for Thailand will sting, particularly given how easily Victory nullified their attacking threats, they do stand alone at the top of the table with an attack that has scored 52 goals in 24 games – 16 goals more than the next best.
Of some concern will be their defence, that is capable of leaking goals, as evidenced by the three that Victory put past them on Saturday night, and with 31 conceded this year they are only middle-of-the-road in the A-League Men’s when it comes to defensive records.
For Australian teams, success in Asia is so often build upon a solid defensive foundation, so that is one area Kisnorbo will need to tighten up to avoid any slip ups over the next fortnight.
Differing Fortunes
This was meant to be the year for Vissel Kobe. After a seemingly never ending build to get to this point, they finally had the squad capable of challenging for serious silverware, not just in the J.League but in the AFC Champions League as well.
The reality, however, couldn’t have been any different.
Not only are they still winless after 10 games in the J.League, something that would’ve seemed inconceivable just two months ago, they very nearly didn’t make it into the group stage of the ACL to begin with.
The 2019 Emperor’s Cup winners had to survive an almighty scare against Australia’s Melbourne Victory before eventually running out 4-3 victors after being forced into extra time.
That is about as good as it has got for Kobe, who are already on their second manager for 2022, with Spaniard Miguel Ángel Lotina, a man with a mixed record (to put it nicely) in the J.League, the one tasked with trying to turn the shipwreck around.
Injuries to key players haven’t helped, but they started the season like a team who believed their own hype and who believed it would just work for them this season. The reality check has been a humbling one for a club that has ambitions of being Asia’s biggest club.
Any thought of a title challenge has long since been extinguished, and now it is all about staving off what would be an incredibly embarrassing relegation.
At the other end of the scale, Yokohama F.Marinos are flying under former Melbourne Victory manager Kevin Muscat. The 2019 J.League champions sit second on the table and arrive in Vietnam on the back of an impressive 3-0 win over fellow title fancies Kashima Antlers.
It’s been an impressive start to the season for the new-look Marinos, who underwent a significant squad overhaul in the off-season, which led to many questioning whether Muscat could continue on the legacy of his predecessor, current Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou.
The manner and speed with which he has achieved that has been impressive and sets them up for a real crack at this year’s competition.
Muscat himself has had a love-hate relationship with this competition.
He famously, as a player and captain for Melbourne Victory, once said that playing in the ACL was not enjoyable. As a coach, his attitude had changed and he guided Melbourne Victory to their first knockout stage at the fifth time of asking in 2016.
But he will be under no illusions as to how important this competition is to his current employer.
After their drought-breaking title success in 2019, plenty was expected of Postecoglou’s Marinos when they turned up in Doha for the 2020 tournament. After breezing through the group stage with four wins from six, they inexplicably fell to a gritty, but underwhelming Suwon Bluewings outfit.
While they’re in a difficult group, with Jeonbuk Hyundai in particular likely to prove stiff competition for top spot and the automatic berth through to the Round of 16, they could hardly be coming in better prepared.
Can the Lions roar?
If there is one regret about the host cities for the East Zone it’s that Singapore isn’t hosting Group F, with Lion City Sailors set to make their ACL debut.
Being hosted in Buriram, this group should have a home club in it, but Buriram United inexplicably threw away a 119th minute lead against Daegu in the playoffs to hand the Korean side a spot in this group.
But it’s the Singaporean side that will generate all the intrigue, having burst onto the scene over the past few years and making no secret of their ambition to be a big player on the continental stage.
For a side from Singapore that might seem like an ambitious target, but LCS aren’t short when it comes to ambition. When Aurelio Vidmar left to return to Thailand midway through 2021 they only went and signed the reigning AFC Champions League winning coach, Korean Kim Do-hoon, who took Ulsan to continental glory in 2020.
After securing the 2021 Singapore Premier League title on the final day of the season and confirming their spot in this year’s ACL, they set their ambitions even higher by signing Korean striker Kim Shin-wook, who has won the ACL with both Ulsan and Jeonbuk.
If that wasn’t enough the signing of 29-year-old Belgian Maxime Lestienne was the cherry on top of the cake. With the pick of the domestic talent, with an ACL-winning coach and a set of visa players the envy of many, they are primed to cause a few surprises.
With Shandong Taishan sending their youth team, LCS would be disappointed to not secure maximum points from those encounters. Urawa and Daegu present significant challenges, but Buriram United showed that Daegu are beatable and with the experience of Kim in the dugout, he will have the side primed for those encounters.
A chance for the ‘minnows’
On very few scales could one consider JDT a minnow, such is their power and prominence across Southeast Asia, but on the continental stage they’re still yet to make that next step.
They were hurt badly by the pandemic in 2020.
They were one of the few teams to actually begin their campaign before the tournament was placed in an eight month hiatus as COVID wrought havoc around the world. While they lost their opening game away to Vissel Kobe, they bounced back with an impressive 2-1 win over Suwon Bluewings in front of a raucous 25,000-plus crowd at their brand new Sultan Ibrahim Stadium.
But when the tournament resumed in November, they were denied a real opportunity for success when they were forced to withdraw. Malaysian government regulations at the time meant they were not allowed to leave the country, making a trip to Doha an impossible task.
Having already defeated Suwon, who underwhelmed in Doha, and with Guangzhou sending their youth team, a golden opportunity went begging.
Fast forward to 2022 and the draw has done them no favours; drawn alongside Japanese and Korean giants Kawasaki Frontale and Ulsan Hyundai respectively. Talk about the group of death.
Guangzhou will once again send their youth team, which presents a great opportunity for JDT to pick up a pair of wins, and then hope for the best against two of the continent’s best football clubs.
With this group being hosted by JDT, they at least have the benefit of home ground advantage, with crowds of up to 20,000 permitted at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium, although with the group phase being held through Ramadan, the impact that has on crowds and the performance of the players remains to be seen.
Also drawn a rough hand are Vietnamese side Hoang Anh Gia Lai, who are drawn alongside Jeonbuk Hyundai and Yokohama F.Marinos in Group H.
But like JDT, it would be folly to discount them out of hand.
In the dugout for them is Kiatisuk Senamuwang, otherwise known as ‘Zico’, the Thai coach that was so instrumental in that country’s recent boom, guiding the War Elephants to the final round of qualifying for Russia 2018.
The 48-year-old is no stranger to HAGL, having played for the club between 2002 and 2006, where he transitioned straight into coaching after his retirement. He returned for a second stint with the club in 2010, before being appointed for a third time in 2020.
He has at his disposal a wealth of national team talent, and we have seen during the recent Asian Qualifiers how competitive Vietnam can be, even if they didn’t always get the results.
Nguyen Cong Phuong is a player that can trouble any defence. Vu Van Thanh is an explosive and dangerous full back that will exploit any space he is afforded, while Luong Xuan Truong is a bullish and creative presence in the middle of the park.
While they possess the talent, however, there are concerns over their form leading in and just where the goals will come from.
In the opening four games of the current V.League season, they’ve drawn three and lost one, scoring only twice, while they needed penalties to get past lowly Hong Linh Ha Tinh in the Vietnamese Cup last week after a 0-0 draw.
It’s not the kind of form line that will have the other teams worried, but we are already seeing in the West Zone that anything is possible, and HAGL will take hope from that.
Hong Kong’s Kitchee were the hard luck story of last year’s tournament, missing out on advancing to the knockout stages by just the solitary goal. With three wins and two draws, their 11-point haul would ordinarily have been enough to see them advance as group runners-up.
But the expanded format meant only the top-placed team of each group was guaranteed progression, with the three (of five) best second-placed teams also advancing. Kitchee were fourth best, losing out on goal difference to Pohang Steelers – who went on to make the final.
They return for 2022 still with the ACL’s all-time leading scorer in Dejan Damjanovic and have landed themselves in a group with endless possibilities.
Shanghai Port’s withdrawal from the competition means they now face two fewer games, which should help across a busy schedule. Ordinarily Vissel Kobe would be seen as the clear dominant force in this group, but such is their form domestically that Kitchee should fear nothing from that match up.
Then there is Chiangrai United from Thailand, and having taken a win and a draw from their two matches against Port FC last year, they are a team that will hold no fear.
And they’ve given themselves the best chance of success, traveling to Thailand over a month ago to prepare, playing a series of friendly matches against Thai League sides to keep them match fit ahead of their opening match against Chiangrai later this week.
After becoming the first man to break the 40-goal barrier in the ACL last year, Dejan Damjanovic will be primed to add even more goals and extend his lead at the top of the all-time goal scoring charts.
And as Turkmen side Ahal fly the flag for Turkmen football in the West Zone, it will be national team star Ruslan Mingzow, a recent signing for Kitchee, doing the same in the East Zone.
The AFC Champions League is a competition that rarely goes to script, and the next three weeks promises to deliver even more excitement, twists and turns.
Photo: BG Pathum United
