On July 2, the night was low and the clock struck 22:00 as the third round of Group I of the AFC Champions League saw the thrilling battle between Daegu FC and Beijing Guoan take place at the Benyodkor Stadium in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
[Daegu FC]
In the first two rounds of the AFC Champions League group stage, Daegu FC finished in second place in Group I with three points from a win and a loss. In the first round, despite taking the lead twice, they ended up losing 2-3 to Kawasaki. In the second round, Daegu FC swept Union City 7-0, showing strong attacking power. Currently, Daegu FC has four foreigners in its squad, including Brazilian strikers Edgar, Cecinha and Sergio, and Japanese midfielder Nishi Tsubasa. Last season, Daegu FC finished fifth in the K-League and were lucky to catch the last train to the AFC Champions League after being voluntarily relegated due to Sangmu's relocation. This season, Daegu FC finished fourth in the South Korean K-League, just four points adrift of table-topping Ulsan, and reached the last eight of the AFC Cup. In order to keep their hopes of qualifying for the group alive, Daegu FC cannot afford any slip-ups in their two-legged match against Guoan.
[Beijing Guoan]
In the first two rounds of the AFC Champions League group stage, Beijing Guoan drew one game and lost one, accumulating one point and tying with Kawasaki for third place in Group I. The team was also in a three-way tie with Kawasaki for third place. In the first round, Guoan drew 1-1 with Union City after trailing by a goal, thanks to a direct free kick from national youth captain Liang Shaowen. In the second round against Kawasaki, Guoan suffered a 0-7 defeat. Over the course of the two matches, Guoan accumulated five shots on goal, with only two hitting within goal range, making the gap between the young players and the adults obvious. Despite not being as strong as Kawasaki, it will be difficult for Guoan to score points against Daegu FC, and the most realistic goal is to get out of the shadow of the 0-7 defeat in the last round, stop the big defeat and score again.
Before the match, head coach Jankovic said, "Tomorrow's match is our third group game and we still have to face a strong opponent. We are indeed a young team, but we will try our best to give our best performance. If we compare the strength of each group horizontally, we will find that our group is relatively strong, and even if the first team comes, we will face a very strong game."
[Historical encounter]
Guoan has never met Daegu FC, but has 22 AFC Champions League meetings with the South Korean side, of which Guoan has won four, drawn five and lost 13.
[Projected debut]
Daegu FC: 1 - Choi Young-eun; 30 - Park Byung-hyeon, 6 - Hong Jung-hyun, 7 - Kim Jin-hyuk; 20 - Hwang Soon-man, 74 - Lee Yong-rae, 44 - Seok-young, 38 - Jang Sung-won; 11 - Cecilia, 9 - Edgar, 22 - Lee Geun-ho
Beijing Guoan: 25 - Guo Quanbo; 63 - Nai Bijiang, 36 - Liang Shaowen, 38 - Ruan Qilong, 64 - Xu Dongdong; 35 - Jiang Wenhao, 66 - Hu Jiaqi, 88 - Shi Yu Chengcheng, 99 - Chen Yan Park; 69 - Duan Dezhi, 31 - Li Boshi
