The 2023 AFC Champions League play-offs were staged in five matches on the evening of August 22 (tonight) in Beijing. According to the system of the competition, the match is a decisive game with the winner advancing to the AFC Champions League.
At 19:30, two Chinese Super League teams sit at home to face two Thai Super League teams. From the current information, CCTV sports platforms, including CCTV sports channel (CCTV5), have no plans to broadcast the AFC Champions League play-offs, and the major video platforms will not be broadcast live on the Internet and cell phones, with only one local platform involved in the live broadcast.
Former Chinese Football Association (CFA) leader Chen Xuyuan's old stomping grounds, Shanghai Port, are located at the SAIC Pudong Football Stadium, hosting Thai Super League powerhouse Pathum United. Shanghai Five Star Sports will broadcast the match live on TV. Shanghai Port, coached by Spanish coach Javier Pereira, are the Chinese Super League's top landlord. The foreigners are led by Brazilian star Oscar, who played for Premier League blues Chelsea. Vargas, Caron, Pinko and Joao also have some power. In terms of domestic players, Wu Lei, Yan Junling, Zhang Linpeng, Jiang Guangtai, and Wang Shenchao are all current national footballers. Cai Huikang, Xu Xin, Li Shuai, and Li Ang were named to the Chinese men's national team roster. Despite being undefeated in two rounds of the Chinese Super League, the team is still firmly in the lead with 53 points.
Shanghai Port have left Shandong Taishan and Shanghai Shenhua by 12 points, and with the Super League title almost out of reach, they can put more energy into their AFC Champions League campaign and try to make a breakthrough.
Pathum United drew the first two rounds of the Thai Premier League, but they take the AFC Champions League very seriously. The team is equipped with seven foreigners and the local players are led by Songkhla Hin, who is known as Thailand's Lionel Messi. The same match between Thai soccer number one and national soccer star Wu Lei will be a highlight. Looking at past records and strength comparisons, Shanghai Port has a definite advantage.
Zhejiang's home match against Taikang will be streamed exclusively on the club's DOU audio account in the absence of live TV coverage.
Last season's big dark horse Zhejiang had a bad start to the season but then performed strongly, going undefeated in the last eight rounds of the Chinese Super League and jumping to fifth on the table, with strong domestic players such as Yao Junsheng, Zhang Jiaqi and Qian Jie, and strong performances by the two striker foreigners, with Brazilian striker Lennardo beating Wu Lei to the lead in the Chinese Super League's top scorers list with 15 goals, and Zimbabwean international Mushiekwi who had been playing for Dalian (now renamed Dalian Pro Soccer Musical), who was playing for the Chinese Super League in Dalian (now renamed Dalian Pro Soccer Musical), with 13 goals in third place, having arrived in China at the end of 2015 Mushaikwe finally had the chance to play in the AFC Champions League. It will inevitably be a game where he will be at full strength.
At the pre-match press conference, the Taigang coach was full of confidence. The two teams have no previous record of playing each other and this is an encounter, so I hope Zhejiang can get a good start at home.
In the first two matches starting at 18:30, South Korean K-League side Incheon United hosted Vietnam's Haiphong, while Japanese J-League powerhouse Urawa Red Diamonds hosted Hong Kong Premier League side Richmond of China. The South Korean and Japanese teams were better in terms of strength and experience and won without a doubt.
Qatar league leaders Vokra host Naaman Uzbekistan at 23.30pm.
