The AFC Champions League 2015, the tournament to determine Asia’s club champions, enters its Matchday 2 on 3 and 4 March. Four Japanese clubs look for their first ACL victory of the season, as Urawa Reds and Kashiwa Reysol play at home and Gamba Osaka and Kashima Antlers travel to play on the road.

After Kashiwa drew their first Group E match with Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (KOR) on the road on 23 February, they face Binh Duong (VIE) on 3 March, who clinched their third Vietnamese League championship last year.

The Vietnamese outfit are led by former Vietnamese international defender Nguyen Thanh Son, who was promoted to the head coach in the middle of the last season and brought the team to their first league championship in six years.

Binh Duong currently stand at third place, just one point behind the leaders with five wins and two losses (one unplayed match) after Matchday 8 of the domestic league starting this January. The Vietnamese champions hold former Consadole Sapporo forward Le Cong Vinh, forward Dieng Cheikh Abass, who scored 16 goals last year and six goals so far this year, Vietnamese international forwardNguyen Anh Duc and Czech-born defender Michal who used to play on Vietnam’s U-23 national team.

After a 2-3 loss against Shandong Luneng FC (CHI) in their opening match on 24 February, Binh Duong aim at their first ACL win, which they did not gain during their first tournament appearance in 2008. Meanwhile, Kashiwa have put up a good record with five wins, four draws and one loss in total since the 2012 tournament up to this February’s play-offs.

While Kashiwa play with tenacious defence led by goalkeeper SUGENO Takanori and defensive line forces SUZUKI Daisuke, MASUSHIMA Tatsuya and Korea Republic international Kim Chang Soo, their offensive side expects superb performances by Japanese international forward KUDO Masato, forward OTSU Yuki, who made a comeback to Kashiwa after three years, and newly-added forward Cristiano Da Silva.

Urawa to face A-League champions

In Group G, Urawa face Australian A-League champions Brisbane Roar (AUS) on 4th.
This year’s ACL is the third appearance in their history and the first in two years after the Australian side claimed the A-League and its Grand Final double titles in the 2013-2014 season.

Brisbane, however, have spent a tough season, which began in October, and replaced their head coach last November because of poor performance. Former Dutch international and English league star Franciscus Thijssen has taken over the interim role since the end of November.

In this ACL campaign, Brisbane fell to Beijing Guoan (CHI) 0-1 with a last-grasp goal last Tuesday. While they have not gained a victory in their past seven ACL matches, there has been no loss in their domestic league with the record of three wins and one draw since the mid-season break for the AFC Asian Cup 2015 in Australia. The current seven-placed side just drew to league-leading Perth Glory FC on 28 February.

The team are looking for three points in the Kashiwa match, led by last year’s A-League MVP German midfielder Thomas Broich, Brazilian forward Henrique De Andrade Silva, who is the team’s top scorer with seven goals this season, former Serbia international forward Andrija Kaluderovic and Asian Cup champions Australian international midfielder Matt Mckay.

Urawa allowed Suwon Samsung FC (KOR) to turn around the score to lose their opening match 1-2 last Wednesday despite scoring an opening goal. Three days later, in the FUJI XEROX SUPER CUP against Gamba Osaka, midfielder UMESAKI Tsukasa, midfielder SEKINE Takahiro and forward Zlatan Ljubijankic showed aggressive attacks even in a 0-2 loss.

Urawa defender NASU Daisuke said “We must win because we play at home. I need to try to win, but it’s important not to make haste and change our style. Our team got better than last year, so if we put up a good result, it’s going to be good motivation for us.”It is their first ACL contest for Urawa and Kashiwa to play against Brisbane and Binh Duong respectively.

Gamba, Kashima to travel to play in Korea Republic

While Gamba Osaka travel to face Seongnam FC in Group F in Korea Republic, Kashima also play against FC Seoul in Group H on the road.
Seongnam FC claimed second place in the domestic league last year and made their sixth ACL berth. They clinched the runners-up in the 2014 ACL campaign and won the ACL crown in 2010.

Gamba Osaka lost to Seongnam FC at the round 16 (formerly single-match system) in 2010. Yet with the FUJI XEROX SUPER CUP victory, Japanese international midfielder Endo Yasuhito said “Today’s win brings us some composure. We want to play with dominant ball possession even on the road. But you always get some stretch where you need to be patient, so we will try to be flexible.”

FC Seoul advanced to the finals through play-offs this year but have played the tournament in the past three years and made their fifth appearance. The Korea Republic side finished as runners-up in the 2013 tournament.

Kashima’s record against FC Seoul is one draw and one loss including the last ACL loss at the round 16 (formerly single-match system) in 2011. Kashima created plenty of goal-scoring opportunities in the Western Sydney Wanderers fixture last week. If they can adjust their defence which conceded a goal in the closing minutes, their maiden victory may come close.

Korean K League will begin on 7 Match just as Japanese J.League does, and both Seongnam FC and FC Seoul lost their first ACL match of the season on the road.

Head Coach's Comment

Mihailo Petrovic, Head Coach (Urawa Reds)
Our group is not easy. The last match was against Asia’s leading Seongnam FC and the next one is against Australian league champions. We have lots of pressure, but our players are strong enough to hold off all of that even in such a severe situation. We have conceded goals through small mistakes in the last two matches. By winning the match, we will be able to show more solid performance. What we need is a victory.

AFC Champions League 2015
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