2017 AFC Champions League

Yes, Martins had a bad match today.

 

Nice result by Brisbane.

 

really unfortunate that all teams couldnt be in season form for the playoffs. shanghai looked really rusty whereas brisbane was clicking from all corners. not too many teams in their preseason could have beaten brisbane last night

 

Well, Australia has to deal with the same issue at an even worse time - the knockout rounds. So I don't begrudge the A-League for having this advantage early on. Shenhua could have won this match (they parked themselves in the Brisbane half) but were poor in defense.

 

ahah, this escuse I hear all time from MLS against mexicans in CONCACAF Champions League )) Please, don't begin and here ))) are proffesional teams, must play the best anytime.

 

Is this an excuse?. The Asian Champions League (counting the qualifiers) runs for most of the year (January to November) and the dates for the different leagues vary across Asia depending on local conditions. What it means is that at some stage teams are playing out of season no matter where they are from. You are right that it takes a professional team to win the whole thing, as at some stage they will be in pre season or post season.

 

If we think about preseason or not, this will result that AFC Champions League is not right for all teams, not equal, some clubs have advantage is earlh tournament (A League clubs especiallt in East), some clubs have advantage in knockout rounds (k league, csl, japanese), and this result that ACL don.t give all time equal chances for all teams. This is unreal and is just a option for losers. Look in concacaf, mls is a loser nation against mexico and cry all time about preseason. But, mexicans have results even in preseason

 

Esteghlal Khuzestan is on the brink of bankruptcy! Their management and players have not been paid for 7 months. Their manager said they might not participated in ACL. They don't have even enough money to play in PGPL.

 

This group is truly group of death. Each one these teams could be the first team to advance to next level if they were in other groups.

 

Good on 'em !
nice to see capitalistic trends in mainland China !

 

Could it be possible that Eastern took tickets off the market in order to create scarcity? Could it be that the "Guangzhou fans" are actually just Eastern creating multiple accounts on Taobao, trying to peddle tickets for higher prices?

 

Mixing the home and away fans in the same zones and let them fight with each other. What a good job, Eastern.

 

It is not official but I am hearing the stories that our main forward Taremi might not accompany the team against Al Hilal becuase of two yellow cards he got in ACL two years ago! Is it even possible to push yellow cards or red cards suspension from years ago to this competition now? It is not common as long as I can recall in any other competition. AFC is just beyond standard!

 

I think that red cards stay "forever" until they are cleared while yellow cards are deleted at the end of the season, at least that's the case in UEFA.

Here's what their regulations say on yellow cards:
49.05 Cautions and pending yellow-card suspensions from the UEFA Champions League or the UEFA Europa League expire at the end of the season.
There's noting on red cards, but I know that, when player gets red card and his team gets eliminated, he is suspended for next European match(es) whenever that match is - next season or in next few years.

P.S. Now I remembered Cheryshev of Real Madrid - Real got disqualified in Copa del Rey after fielding him after he was suspended in previous season after collecting three yellow cards.

 

Persepolis vs Al Hilal updates:

Persepolis left Iran for Oman, leaving behind two youth level phenomenal members of the team. Taherkhani (17 yrs old) and Chaab (19 yrs old) I know in a match between Al Hilal (with 10 NT members) and Persepolis (with 8 NT members) it will be rare to use him but there could be a wild chance for Chaab at least. Our LB/CB Mohamad Ansari got injured by SS Tehran fans throwing stone at him after Tehran derby. He had a concussion and had to be taken to hospital. If he plays for our team he won't be effective as much as usual.

This is Chaab scoring in AFC U20 competition vs Saudi Arabia.



I heard Omani football association head gave his full support to Saudi Arabian team Al Hilal. Al Hilal fans have already bought 13000 tickets for this match!

The worst news is the referee is not good enough for this match. Sri Lankan referee couldn't manage the match Iran vs Qatar last time in Azadi. I am sure he makes a lot of mistakes which can cause a controversial win for any side. He seems to be good for AFC Cup level not ACL or WCQs.

 

A weird story happened in Persepolis vs Al Hilal match. Persepolis is the host and only 8% of tickets should be given to Al Hilal fans in Oman but they have already bought 13k tickets out of 34k capacity (more than 33%) !

So far

Iran 1 - 0 Arabian Peninsula
SS Khuzestan 1-0 Al Fateh

 

Iran 1 - 1 Arabian Peninsula
SS Khuzestan 1-0 Al Fateh (KSA)
SS Tehran 1-2 Al Ahli Dubai (UAE)

 

Both WSW and Brisbane Roar field their B team in ACL Home match shows that at this stage (2/3 of A-League season), clubs obviouslly took domestic competetion over ACL

 

Aussies 0-1-2, 0-7 in three home matches this week. Disgrace.