The knockout stage of the AFC Champions League 2016 is now getting underway. F.C. Tokyo and Shanghai SIPG, who go head to head in Round of 16, had the official press conference on Monday 16 May.

Shanghai SIPG coach Sven Goeran Eriksson said, "F.C. Tokyo are well organised and don't hesitate hard-working. It will be a tough match." Meanwhile, F.C, Tokyo coach JOFUKU Hiroshi analysed the opponents, "not only Foreign players but also domestic players are high in quality. And they are much organised." Both teams seemed to be working hard on the preparation for the square-off.

The contest between F.C. Tokyo and Shanghai SIPG is scheduled to kick off on Tuesday 17 at 19:15 at Tokyo Stadium.

Coach and Players' Comments

JOFUKU Hiroshi, Coach (F.C. Tokyo)
Shanghai's foreign players are high in quality and domestic players are also unique and high in quality. And they are much organised, good team. But we are playing at home and know how tough ACL away matches are in our past experience. We will try to get three points and move on to the second leg. As well as getting rid of their strength for 90 minutes, we will try to play aggressively.

AKIMOTO Yota (F.C. Tokyo)
Tomorrow's opponents have got strong attacking force, but we are playing at home. We will try to keep a clean sheet and win the match for our fans before going to the away second leg in Shanghai.

Sven Goeran Eriksson, Coach (Shanghai SIPG) 
Tomorrow's match is going to be very important for us. And we have been preparing for it. It's a pity that Asamoah GYAN can't play, but we got to the knockout stage and can't lose from now onward. We arrived in Tokyo yesterday and had light workouts, and today we have regular training to be ready for the match.

CAI Huikang (Shanghai SIPG) 
Just like our coach said, tomorrow's match is very important and we have tried hard to get ourselves ready. We will do our best to get good results.

AFC Champions League 2016

27 January 2016 - 26 November 2016

More information