SYDNEY FC TO HOST J-LEAGUE GIANTS URAWA REDS IN ASIAN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Sydney FC & Urawa Reds set to meet on 19/04/2016

The 2016 Asian Champions League group placings have finally been determined. Sydney FC find themselves in the group of death, facing Asian Champions Guangzhou Evergrande and Japan's Urawa Reds plus a play-off winner most likely to be ACL regulars Pohang Steelers.

Sydney FC will host the famed Urawa Reds on 19th April, 2016. By that stage of the competition (the 5th match) it's possible the two teams will be scrapping for the second qualifying spot behind Guangzhou Evergrande. 

For the uneducated, Urawa are the J-League's most supported team, regularly attracting more than 40,000 to club fixtures. Sadly for those loyal fans the Reds have often raised hopes only to fall short of silverware. 

The year 2015 was another such year for Urawa fans, as the Saitama club lit up the J-League with a dominant 1st Stage win only to crumble in the finals series. The Reds then went on to play bridesmaid in the Emperor's Cup Final on New Year's Day, despite starting favourites against old foes Gamba Osaka.

For Sydney FC, the 2016 ACL will be just their third appearance in the tournament. Previously the Sky Blues finished 2nd in their group (2007) however, that was in a time when qualification for the knockout stage required winning your group. Ironically Sydney FC's group included Urawa Reds back in 2007, and the two played out a nil-all draw in Saitama for the last game of the group phase. The draw denying Sydney FC the chance to advance, while Urawa went on to win the tournament. 

In other Champions League news Melbourne Victory are set to host Gamba Osaka in the last game of the group stage on 3rd May. Before that however, Kevin Muscat's men will face off against a play-off winner most likely to be Shanghai East Asia, managed by one Sven Goran Eriksson. Melbourne's other group opponent is Suwon Samsung Bluewings of South Korea. 

Australia's Adelaide United will have their work cut out for them in the Asian Champions League as they're forced to go through play-offs before enter the competition proper. The Reds - who have found a patch of form in the A-League - will need to beat Chinese club Shandong Luneng before joining a group including Sanfrecce Hiroshima, FC Seoul and dominant Thai champions Buriram United. 

J-LEAGUE REPUTATION DAMAGED IN ASIAN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Batalla of Beijing Guoan turning the Reds inside out.

J-League clubs are once again struggling in the Asian Champions League. Though the domestic competition is arguably the most popular across East Asia, the quality of the competition is in dispute as repeated failings against CSL, K-League and A-League clubs provide the evidence, the J-League is not all it's cracked up to be.

In this year's installation, J-League clubs have taken eight of 36 points available to them in the first three rounds of the ACL. Treble winners Gamba Osaka have been far and away the most disappointing. 

In their three fixtures they've gone down to China's Guangzhou R&F, Korea's Seongnam, and drawn with Buriram United of Thailand. After the failure in Korea (a match in which large numbers of Gamba fans attended) manager Kenta Hasegawa was typically apologetic, but sounded like the proverbial broken record, ". . . we will do our best in the next few games and try to qualify to the next round," he said.

Urawa Reds manager Mihailo Petrovic was still managing to find positives after his team's tepid display against Brisbane Roar on ACL Matchday 2. The manager spoke of promising signs on the training pitch, before his eerily similar, " . . . we are still in the race and will do our best to qualify for the next stage." Since the loss to Brisbane, Urawa went on to be soundly beaten by Beijing Guoan.

With Japan's best youngsters heading off to Europe at the first sign of interest it's not surprising the league is struggling to match the national team's success (in Asia). Add to that the fact Japan cannot compete with neighbouring China when it comes to luring quality imports, and you have a recipe for disaster.

Further compounding problems for the J-League's status is this year's bizarre end of season finals series puzzle. The heads of Japanese football decided with none - to little consultation of fans that the league should return to a two stage system. The explanation of the system on the J-League Official website, seems to indicate the finals series could involve three or four teams, depending on whether a stage winner also has the most points across the total 34 regular season matches. For more detail click the link provided above.

Before season kick off J-League boss Mitsuru Murai was interviewed by AFP and it was there that he stated, "I hope to see the J-League become tougher, quicker and more aggressive to help raise the level of the Japan national team." Though this would improve the league, a larger issue is the quality of imports in Japan as compared with those in China. Murai alluded to this in the interview, "The financial rewards are a little higher there so we need to do more to bring in star players." 

Unfortunately for Japan their ability to attract superstar imports will not exceed that of China's, unless there is some kind of economic upheaval in one of the two countries. So the J-League will have to rely on a new found, 'old fashioned' toughness to improve performances in ACL competition. 

GUANGZHOU POISED FOR CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SEMIS

Chinese mega-club Guangzhou Evergrande are poised to win their two legged Asian Champions League quarter final and advance to the semi finals. The Tigers are 2-nil up against Saudi club Lekhwiya and travel with confidence after another successful season. They currently hold a 14 point lead with just six matches remaining in the Chinese Super League, meaning a third straight domestic league championship is likely.

An aggregate win for Guangzhou with its wealth of funds and stars to boot will set up a possible China-Japan showdown. However, Japanese club Kashiwa Reysol is no sure thing to advance from their quarter final as they're currently locked at 1-1 with Al Shabab of Saudi Arabia. Of much concern for Reysol and taciturn manager Nelsinho (quit the club a fortnight ago, only to re-commit) is the Chiba club's inconsistency. Another factor against the Japanese is the second leg will be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

In the other quarter finals Buriram of Thailand are battling to reverse a 1-nil deficit to Esteghlal. The Thais are another ACL team experiencing success on the domestic scene, with a five point buffer to their nearest rivals Muang Thong United just eight matches from the finish line. Buriram are a an incredible underdog story in this year's competition as they only made their way into the ACL via a play-off with Australian club Brisbane Roar. The Thai club will be playing under new manager Alejandro Menendez whose first game in control was a 2-nil defeat of domestic rivals BEC Tero Sasano. The manager and players are confident of overcoming their Iranian counterparts. "The team is in a good position and I have not changed a lot. There are a lot of good things in place and I will only think about changes in the future."

Meanwhile, in the other quarter final, FC Seoul host Saudi Arabia's Al Ahli. The first leg ended in a 1-1 draw with both sides confident of progressing to the Asian Champions League semi finals. Unfortunately for Al Ahli they will be without their South Korean attacker, Suk Hyun Jun who has more then four years experience in Europe. Manager Vitor Pereira had these words to say before the match, "We have a lot of respect for FC Seoul but we have confidence in our abilities and we feel we will be the team going to the semi finals."

All matches kick of Wednesday evening, 18th September, 2013.

Asian Champions League Quarter Finals Draw Completed

The Asian Football Confederation has finalised the draw for the remainder of it's burgeoning club competition, the Asian Champions League. The draw pitted east Asian clubs against west Asian clubs for the quarter finals, but beyond the last eight it's possible that east can meet east and west likewise. Hosts of the event also boasted about the 11% increase in overall ACL attendances.

Quarter final one sees 2012 finalists Al Ahli face FC Seoul. The west Asian team from Saudi Arabia boast a midfield dominated by South American midfielders, plus Brazilian striker Victor Simoes, with 12 goals from 19 matches this season. Quarter final two features Iranian super club Esteghlal, and underdogs Buriram United from Thailand. Interestingly for Australian soccer fans Buriram battled their way through Group E (the group this blogger labelled the weakest in the east side of the draw), after defeating Brisbane Roar in a play-off for their place in the ACL. Esteghlal won their group and defeated Al Shabab Al Arabi of UAE to make their way to the quarter finals. The Iranians have averaged crowds of over 24,000 for the ACL plus a phenomenal 80,000 for their clash with Saudis Al Hilal.

Nelsinho - manager of Kashiwa Reysol

Quarter final three has Japan's Kashiwa Reysol hosting Al Shabab of Saudi Arabia. Kashiwa manager Nelsinho had spent a year with Al Shabab's rivals the aforementioned Al Hilal (93/94), but Kashiwa captain Otani conceded most of the players knew nothing of Al Shabab. Typically conservative the captain said, "We have had good results in the group stage and the Round of 16 and we will fight all out for a place in the semi finals." Meanwhile quarter final four sees Guangzhou Evergrande hosting Qataris Lekhwiya. The Chinese will be favourites, but they fell to west Asian opposition last year, so Lippi and his men will no doubt be on their toes.

From this point on the tournament will be played with a two legged format, including the final. The first leg of the quarter finals kicks off on 21st August, while teams are forced to wait until 18th September, for the return leg. Important to know is that the winner of quarter final one faces the winner of quarter final two, and winner three will play four. This increases the likelihood of an east Asian showdown between Kashiwa and Guangzhou. The suit wearers at the AFC would be rubbing their hands and drooling at such a possibility.