As the new AFC Champions League season approaches, an intriguing play-off match is on the cards. Shanghai Harbour and Zhejiang will make their debut in the AFC Champions League as they challenge Thai Premier League rivals Pathum United and Thai Port respectively.
As the champion of this season's Chinese Super League, Shanghai Harbour is undoubtedly the favorite to win the title. In terms of strength and pre-match ambition, a home win against Baton Rouge United seems to be the nail in the coffin. If Shanghai Seaport is so strong but cannot even advance to the play-offs, I am afraid they will be widely criticized by the fans!
Batang United, the traditional strongest team in Thai Premier League, has a mediocre performance in the league this season, with two rounds of matches ending in draws, and is currently in the eighth place in the table. Despite failing to show their true strength in the league, the coaches and players are full of confidence in the face of the challenge of the AFC Champions League, saying that they will do their best to get out of the group.
Baton Rouge United arrived in Shanghai early and quickly got into training in preparation for their play-off match at Shanghai Harbor. The team has seven foreign aiders in the lineup, and all the main players who are not injured are traveling with the team. The two main defenders, Cardoso and Kelic, have both strength and experience, while the strikers are Sergeyev, an Uzbek from Beijing Guoan, and Songkrasin, who is known as "Thailand's Lionel Messi". Sone Krasin, who is flexible and has been a bitter enemy of the national soccer team in their matches with Thailand, has joined Pathum United, which will undoubtedly improve the overall strength of the team.
Past experience has shown that Chinese Super League teams often have an advantage against Southeast Asian teams. However, this time, Batang United has two strong generals in the backline, and it may not be easy for Shanghai Harbour to win. Coach Javier may need to prepare a variety of tactics in case he is unable to open up the game at critical moments.
Shanghai Seaport's primary goal is to win the match and advance to the group stage. Despite having the advantage on paper, the team had two uncertainties. First, Coach Javier did not rotate the starters during the intensive league schedule, resulting in physical exhaustion for most players. Oscar and Wu Lei, in particular, started almost every game. Javier had planned to rest his starters after taking the lead at half-time, but it backfired.
Secondly, Javier is not flexible enough in his use of foreign aid. Although he is not superstitious about foreign aid, almost no one in the Chinese Super League can surpass foreign aid. In this AFC Champions League, the number of foreigners on the pitch has increased to 5+1, and Baton Rouge United has seven foreigners, which could pose a threat to Shanghai Seaport. Javier needs to be more flexible in his use of personnel.
In the pre-match press conference, Batang United said that although the strength of the team may not be as good as Shanghai Seaport, the team has been well prepared and comprehensively analyzed the opponent's tactics and players' characteristics, and believe that they can achieve good results. Shanghai Seaport's home ground is known as the Devil's Stadium, which is both a challenge and an opportunity for the team. The team enjoys this kind of atmosphere, the more fans there are, the more active the field is, and the better the players are. This has been proven by our previous experience in Japan.
For Shanghai Seaport to win the game, apart from relaxing their mentality and making technical and tactical adjustments, the most important thing is to score goals as soon as possible. Breaking the deadlock as soon as possible is crucial for the home team. Otherwise, once the game enters the second half, the team's mentality may become impatient and mistakes will increase. Facing the small and quick characteristics of the Thai Super League team, Shanghai Seaport must do well to cope with it.
It is worth noting that Shanghai Seaport had been eliminated from the play-offs for the Chinese Super League teams to participate in the AFC Champions League, a lesson in history that the team must always remind itself of.
