Asian Champions league Playoff

[citymad]

We are now locked in to play Cerezo Osaka (Japan) if we beat Shan United (Myanmar) in the ACL playoffs. I see Adam Taggart has just signed with Cerezo Osaka so it would be an interseting head to head between the two inform Aussie strikers vying for Graham Arnold's nod in lead up to WC friendlies and prep games!

 

Oh crap its Nagoya -  just realised as third, not Cerezo? 

Edited December 25, 2020 by citymad

[jw1739]

2 hours ago, citymad said:

We are now locked in to play Cerezo Osaka (Japan) if we beat Shan United (Myanmar) in the ACL playoffs. I see Adam Taggart has just signed with Cerezo Osaka so it would be an interseting head to head between the two inform Aussie strikers vying for Graham Arnold's nod in lead up to WC friendlies and prep games!

 

Oh crap its Nagoya -  just realised as third, not Cerezo? 

Are any provisional dates or even periods set for these matches? I can't readily see any provision for them in City's fixture list. I can't see how we can play a congested league season and also jet off to wherever and have to deal with quarantine periods as well.

[neio]

Going by previous Aussie teams going through ACL qualifying. The game against Shan would be here, but the 2nd game would be away. 

But I can't see how this happens anytime soon without massive disruptions to our season

[jw1739]

10 hours ago, neio said:

Going by previous Aussie teams going through ACL qualifying. The game against Shan would be here, but the 2nd game would be away. 

But I can't see how this happens anytime soon without massive disruptions to our season

Agreed. With now apparently two new strains (mutations) of the virus (UK and South Africa) that are almost twice as infectious as the original, the situation is not really improving, despite the rush to get vaccinations going. 

[icantthinkofacoolname]

The game against Shan is a one-leg home game for us and if we win we need to win a one-leg game away in Japan to make the group stage. This is meant to happen across March and April. I can’t really see the Australian/Victorian government letting a bunch of random Burmese football players in though so perhaps we’ll have to meet them at a neutral venue (Qatar?), so it could be very disruptive to our season. Hopefully we can have it at AAMI though, would love to attend our first champions league game. 

Also I looked into Shan Utd... and they are seriously not a good team. They’ve played in the AFC cup the last 3 years with a combined record of 1-0-14 (GD: -32) while playing against Cambodian and Singaporean sides. We really should be trouncing these guys.

So basically, i’m expecting a frustrating and cagey 1-0. 

[jw1739]

19 minutes ago, icantthinkofacoolname said:

The game against Shan is a one-leg home game for us and if we win we need to win a one-leg game away in Japan to make the group stage. This is meant to happen across March and April. I can’t really see the Australian/Victorian government letting a bunch of random Burmese football players in though so perhaps we’ll have to meet them at a neutral venue (Qatar?), so it could be very disruptive to our season. Hopefully we can have it at AAMI though, would love to attend our first champions league game. 

Also I looked into Shan Utd... and they are seriously not a good team. They’ve played in the AFC cup the last 3 years with a combined record of 1-0-14 (GD: -32) while playing against Cambodian and Singaporean sides. We really should be trouncing these guys.

So basically, i’m expecting a frustrating and cagey 1-0. 

Why would you go to a neutral venue in the Western Zone for a play-off between two Eastern Zone teams? I'd have thought by far the safest place to play the match would be here in Victoria - they can be tested before they come, and isolated while they are here apart from training and the match itself. Our health authorities would have complete control - much better than going to some other place where who the hell knows what is going on?

[icantthinkofacoolname]

4 minutes ago, jw1739 said:

Why would you go to a neutral venue in the Western Zone for a play-off between two Eastern Zone teams? I'd have thought by far the safest place to play the match would be here in Victoria - they can be tested before they come, and isolated while they are here apart from training and the match itself. Our health authorities would have complete control - much better than going to some other place where who the hell knows what is going on?

Why did all the Eastern teams just play in Qatar over the last month? I’m not saying it makes any sense it just seems consistent with some of the stupid shit the AFC do. Obviously I hope it doesn’t come to that and I personally think it’d be perfectly fine to have in Melbourne. 

[citymad]

On 25/12/2020 at 6:58 PM, jw1739 said:

Are any provisional dates or even periods set for these matches? I can't readily see any provision for them in City's fixture list. I can't see how we can play a congested league season and also jet off to wherever and have to deal with quarantine periods as well.

Yes i agree it will be extremely conjested but i think CFG will prioritise this tournament. It is part of the CFG larger plan IMO. th AFC has been suggested the hub concept for 2021 since Sep 20, so i think that will be the case (Doha?). The prelimmay be in NSW as Shan united are more likely to get permission to arrive and leave in a 'bubble'. Anyway Just my opinion. It is going to be a very tough season and of course no matter what additional challenges come for participation in this tournament i think City will persue it.