Urawa Reds lost an away game to Pohang Steelers from Korea Republic in the second game of the ACL group stage. As Urawa kept attacking aggressively, the players felt even more frustration with their defeat. The team is refreshed and will play against Guangzhou Evergrande, who claimed the Asian title last year. Just like the so-called ‘explosion shopping’ [a new term to describe shopping sprees by Chinese tourists in Japan], this club scouts many star players from all over the world with their enormous wealth to raise the level of the team. This attitude became the talk of the world. PETROVIC, the coach of Urawa Reds noted: ‘the amount of investment does not necessarily match the level of football.’ How Urawa Reds play this game cannot be missed.

Coach and Players' Comments

Mihailo PETROVIC, Coach (Urawa Reds)
I expect tomorrow’s game will be extremely difficult, as both of the teams lost their second game of the group stage. We lost to Pohang Steeler in the previous match. So we need to earn points in this coming game. Guangzhou Evergrande, on the other hand, also didn’t start the ACL as they planned to, and they will play to earn points. I believe Urawa Reds are strong. We will give it everything we have to win tomorrow’s game. In terms of Guangzhou Evergrande’s strength compared to the one in 2013, I believe the team has been getting stronger. I myself pay attention to the teams in China, including Guangzhou Evergrande. They have increased their budget to gain better players. They must be stronger because of that.

KASHIWAGI Yosuke (Urawa Reds)
I look forward to play against an excellent team, Guangzhou Evergrande. I hope both of the teams will play a good game tomorrow. No more and no less. The difference between the current Urawa Reds compared to the team that faced Guangzhou Evergrande in 2013 is the quality and perfection level of combinations, as most of the players have stayed in the team. As the players follow the coach’s direction well, I expect we can achieve even more. The coach recently attended FC Bayern Munich and FC Barcelona matches in Europe. We aim to achieve the same level as those teams, and I believe we’re gradually getting there. We’ll play better than the last game, which we lost 3-0. We’ll play for a victory tomorrow.

Luiz Felipe Scolari, Coach (Guangzhou Evergrande)
Despite our result, one loss and one draw so far, anything can happen in football. As all we need is to perform towards better goals, as a coach, I’ll do my best with the players. 

AFC Champions League 2016

27 January 2016 - 26 November 2016

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