Saitama: Coach Mihailo Petrovic wants Urawa Red Diamonds to use their disappointing AFC Champions League group stage exit last year as motivation for an improved performance in the 2016 edition ahead of their Group H opener against Australia’s Sydney FC on Wednesday.
Former champions Urawa return to the AFC Champions League for their fifth time after finishing in third place in the J.League behind winners Sanfrecce Hiroshima and runners-up Gamba Osaka, who also defeated Petrovic’s side in the Emperor’s Cup final.
The first Japanese side to win the AFC Champions League when they defeated Iran's Sepahan in 2007, Urawa also reached the semi-finals in 2008 but have since exited in the group stages in their last two appearances in 2013 and 2015.
“This is our third challenge in the space of four years. Last year in particular, we left at the end of the group stage with poor results. That has added extra motivation to us for this season’s AFC Champions League,” said Urawa coach Petrovic, whose side will also face defending champions Guangzhou Evergrande and three-time winners Pohang Steelers in Group H.
“We’d love to play well and produce better results this year than the last years. However, all four teams are strong and are close to each other. There will be no easy game in the group stage, and we’d like to make sure to put up all we have and qualify for the next round.
“Our objective in reality is to get through the group stage after we failed the last two years. Of course, we want to go further, but to make that dreams come true, we need to get through the group stage first.”
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Visitors Sydney return to the AFC Champions League for the first time since 2011 after finishing runners up in last year’s A-League Grand Final.
And the Australian club also faced Urawa in their first appearance at the continental competition in 2007 where they shared a pair of draws in the group stage with the eventual champions who edged them out for a place in the knockout stage.
“Urawa are a big club in Japan with wonderful supporters and it will be a big challenge for us,” said Sydney FC coach Graham Arnold, who previously had a spell in Japan at the helm of Vegalta Sendai.
“They have many good players and have recruited many top youngsters from Japan like Wataru Endo. I am very familiar with their players and we have done a lot of research and watched a lot of video on their team.
“We hope they’re not at their best in the game, but they’re in their off-season while we’ve played 20 games in the A-League and we want to play a high-tempo game against them.
“The AFC Champions League is extremely important and we want to not only participate in it but also do well, beginning with Wednesday’s game.”
Source: the-afc.com