On Tuesday 23 May, the first leg of Round of 16 in the AFC Champions League (ACL) 2017 saw Kashima Antlers face Guangzhou Evergrande (China). In the away encounter held at Guangzhou in China, Kashima suffered a 1-0 close defeat with Brazilian PAULINHO netting the lone goal from a corner in the 75th minute.

Match Report (Japanese version only)

The second leg is scheduled on Tuesday 30 May from 19:00 at Kashima Soccer Stadium.

Coach's Comment

ISHII Masatada, Coach (Kashima Antlers)
In the match today, we were aiming to snatch points in an away game and return home with the supporters who came all the way from Japan to cheer us in Guangzhou. I am disappointed that we failed to do so. However, my players kept their hard work for the entire 90 minutes. Despite the result of 1-0 loss, this performance should give us some confidence in the second leg. Since the Round of 16 is contested with a home and away tie, we only finished the first half of the two 90-minute half game. Of course, we need a win at home. We will start our preparation starting from tomorrow, and aim for a come-from-behind win and qualify for the next round.

Tournament Period：24 January 2017 (Tue.) ～ 25 November 2017 (Sat.)

First Leg - Round of 16

24 May 2017 (Wed.)
Jeju United (Korea) vs Urawa Reds (Japan)

Tournament Information