Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari is looking for significant improvement from Guangzhou Evergrande as the defending champions look to end their winless run in the AFC Champions League away to Japan’s Urawa Red Diamonds in Group H on Tuesday.
The Chinese Super League champions have picked up just two points at the midway point of the group stage after a goalless draw with Korea Republic’s Pohang Steelers was followed by a 2-1 defeat away in Australia by Sydney FC and a 2-2 draw with Urawa at Guangzhou’s Tianhe Sport Centre Stadium.
And the meeting a fortnight ago with the Japanese side on Matchday Three proved particularly disappointing as, after taking a 2-0 lead within the opening quarter of an hour thanks to two goals from Ricardo Goulart, Guangzhou were denied a first win of the campaign as Shinzo Koroki equalised with just over a minute remaining.
“For us, we still have big room to improve,” said Scolari following the draw with Urawa last month before seeing his side beat Guangzhou R&F 2-0 in the Chinese Super League on Friday.
“Though at the moment we are experiencing some difficulties, I still have love and faith in my players. They are smart, and they work very hard. It was just we made some mistakes.
“I don't think we were helpless. I would say we need to work harder. A mature team should be balanced at attack and defence.”
Urawa forward Naoki Ishihara will be ruled out of the tie for the second game of his two match suspension, although defender Mitsuru Nagata returns.
Also in Group H on Tuesday, the top two sides will face off with leaders Sydney hosting second-placed Pohang at Sydney Football Stadium, with K-League Classic side looking to bounce back from their 1-0 defeat at home to A-League side two weeks ago.
Elsewhere, table-toppers FC Seoul from Korea Republic will look to extend their 100% record at home to China’s Shandong Luneng in Group F, with Brazilian striker Adriano looking to add to his nine goals in just three games.
And in Tuesday’s other Group F tie, Buriram United and Sanfrecce Hiroshima meet at Buriram Stadium, where the winless Thai champions will hope to avenge their 3-0 defeat to the J.League side on Matchday Three.
Buriram are boosted by the return from suspension of captain Suchao Nutnam and Venezuelan defender Andres Tunez.
In the West, inaugural AFC Champions League winners Al Ain from the United Arab Emirates will seek to continue their continental revival having ended a two-game losing run in Group D with a 1-0 win on Matchday Three over Tuesday’s opponents, Al Ahli from Saudi Arabia, thanks to a goal from Omar Abdulrahman.
“We had a strong match against the leaders of the Saudi league and got three important points which were good for us after losing the first two matches,” said Al Ain coach Zlatko Dalic after the game last month.
“We put a lot of pressure on our opponents from the start of the match and we successfully scored through Omar Abdulrahman who always gives us great value and is the man to look for when Al Ain play.”
Group D leaders El Jaish of Qatar, meanwhile, will be looking to continue their perfect start against Uzbekistan’s Nasaf having recorded three consecutive wins at the start of the campaign.
Finally, El Jaish’s domestic rivals Lekhwiya will host Group B’s pacesetters Al Nassr in Doha after the sides played out a 1-1 draw at King Fahd International Stadium in Saudi Arabia on Matchday Three.
And Djamel Belmadi’s winless Qatar Stars League team will also be without defender Mohamed Musa after he picked up his second yellow card of the group stage in the draw in Riyadh.
In Group B’s earlier fixture, 2010 runners-up Zobahan of Iran host Bunyodkor with the Uzbek side still searching for their first win of the campaign after the clubs shared a goalless draw in Tashkent last month.
Photo: Lagardère Sports
Source: the-afc.com