The AFC Champions League (ACL) has Round of 16, the first matches of the knockout stage, on Tuesday 17 and Wednesday 18 May 2016 as F.C. Tokyo and Urawa Reds host the first round after successfully finishing their group stage.

While Tokyo face Group G winners Shanghai SIPG (China) on Tuesday 17, Urawa take on FC Seoul (Korea Republic) on Wednesday 18, who got through the Group F atop. Both are tough opponents, but the Japanese sides strive for a home win before moving on to the away second round to be held on Tuesday 24 and Wednesday 25.

Tokyo to face Eriksson side Shanghai

Tokyo's opponents Shanghai SIPG make the first ACL appearance in their team history. In the group stage, after falling to Melbourne Victory (Australia) on the road, the Shanghai outfit beat Suwon Samsung Bluewings FC (Korea Republic) and Gamba Osaka to secure the top spot at that point with one match left. Despite going down to Suwon in the final fixture, they showed some leeway going out with their key players on the bench.

Under former England National Team coach Sven Goeran Eriksson, Shanghai are a hard-working team with foreign players fitting well including former Guangzhou Evergrande (China) Brazilian forward Elkeson and Argentine midfielder Dario CONCA and Ghanan international Asamoah GYAN. Elkeson has tallied four goals and Chinese international WU Lei has also scored three.

The team stand in third place with five wins, two losses and two draws in the China Super League with Elkeson and Wu netting four and three respectively. Their 16 totals goals scored in this season is just behind Guangzhou Evergrande (21).

On the other hand, Shanghai keep conceding goals in the ACL except an away match against Gamba Osaka (2-0 win) and have given up goals in the last two domestic matches as well.

Tokyo defeated Becamex Binh Duong 2-1 in the final group stage match on the road, winning through the heavily-competitive Group E in second place. Tokyo's last 16 berth is the first time since 2012.

Although MARUYAMA Yuichi is missing the Shanghai match because of cumulative yellow cards, Tokyo look to score goals as halting the opponents with solid defence keeping a clean sheet in the last two J1 League matches. In their last weekend's league match against Sagan Tosu, Tokyo grabbed a draw, at least creating good attacking opportunities despite failing to score with their shots denied by the cross bar and opposing players. The Tokyo side have not lost in the last two matches.

Forward ABE Takuma says, "there is no problem in our communication and combination. We want to improve accuracy a bit more and get more chances."

Tokyo lost to Guangzhou in Round of 16 four years ago in their first ACL appearance. Midfielder TAKAHASHI Hideto shows his enthusiasm, "we never forget the disappointment four years ago. This time, we will try to win at home to move forward."

Urawa to take on greatly decisive FC Seoul

Urawa welcome FC Seoul, who are led by former Korea Republic forward, ex-J.League star CHOI Yong Soo. Including finishing as the runners-up in 2013, FC Seoul are continuously solid, advancing to the knockout stage in all the five championships where they played.

In Group F, the Korean side secured the last 16 spot with four wins and one draw before playing the last one match after they added up points against Shandong Luneng FC (China), Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Buriram United (Thailand). Seoul lost the last group stage match against Hiroshima 2-1 with core players sitting on the bench, but coach Choi says with a relaxed smile, "we found what to improve for the next."

Seoul's scoring ability is outstanding as they have tallied 17 goals, most in the 32 ACL teams. Of those Seoul goals, 10 were scored by forward ADRIANO. He is now a top scorer of the ACL and has also netted seven goals in the last 10 domestic K League Classic.

Scoring touches by former Korean international and Arsenal forward PARK Chuyoung and Montenegrin forward Dejan DAMJANOVIC, who just joined from Beijing Guoan F.C., are also superb as former Hiroshima midfielder TAKAHAGI Yojiro has also showed his presence at midfield. Spaniard defender Osmar BARBA captains the team and leads the defence.

With a win over Seongnam FC in the last weekend's domestic league match, Seoul maintained the top spot and saved themselves from letting their first losing streak of the season that started with the loss to Hiroshima extended to three matches. Seoul go out for the Urawa match with the momentum.

Urawa, who got through Group H in second place with two wins, one loss and three draws, play the knockout stage for the first time since 2008 when they reached the last four.

In the J1 league match against Albirex Niigata on 14th, Urawa made a string of mistakes in a lacklustre performance and ended up in a scoreless draw. Urawa moved down to second place even with one less match played than other teams in the league.

Still, Urawa coach Mihailo PETROVIC stays positive, "we got a point even in such a match." It is a positive sign that Urawa kept a clean sheet in the last two league matches before taking on Seoul, who have good decisiveness.

Defender NASU Daisuke is suspended for the Seoul match with accumulated yellow cards, yet Urawa try to gain a home win with their strengths: aggressiveness and swift shifts between offence and defence.

F.C. Tokyo vs Shanghai SIPG on Tuesday 17 at Tokyo Stadium and Urawa Reds vs FC Seoul on Wednesday 18 at Saitama Stadium 2002 are scheduled to kick off at 19:30.

AFC Champions League 2016

27 January 2016 - 26 November 2016

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