As the drums of war for the AFC Champions League are beating again, the tournament is showing a different pattern than usual. Among the Super League teams, Seaport unexpectedly folded, leaving only Taishan, Sanzhen and Zhejiang in the tournament. Despite having two stars in Oscar and Wu Lei, Harbor was defeated by a mid-tier team from Thailand, an "accidental" result that made everyone witness the brutal competition of the AFC Champions League once again. Imagine the bloodshed of the qualifying rounds and the thrill of the group stage. There was a lot of hope for more luck in the group draw, that is to say, to get a relatively weak opponent.
Unfortunately, the situation in the group of Taishan and Sanjin is not optimistic. Both groups contain the best teams from Japan and South Korea. The Asian Champions League rules have been adjusted so that only the first place in the group can go through, while the second place will have to go through a more intense knockout round, and the fight for the qualification places is becoming more and more heated. Therefore, the outside world for the possible exit has been psychologically prepared. In contrast, Zhejiang is the lucky one, with the group draw being quite favorable to them. Its opponents include Japan's Kofu Fung Lam, Thailand's Buriram United and Australia's Melbourne City. Even Buriram United, which has a good strength, is only the dominant team in the Thai league, not the strongest team in Japan and South Korea.
Kofu Kazuhayashi is in the middle to lower reaches of the J2 League, but had a low performance last season. They beat Sanfrecce Hiroshima in the cup and won the title by luck, their strength is not stable. Looking at Melbourne City, as the king of the Australian Super League, their strength should not be underestimated. However, the Super League team has not shown a significant disadvantage against the Australian Super League teams, especially at home. Of course, this also goes back to before the 2020 season. Nowadays, the overall level of foreign aid has declined, and the competitiveness is naturally weakened. Therefore, the final result will depend on the actual performance.
While the groupings look favorable, the challenges are obvious, especially when playing away from home. With both Thailand and Australia traveling long distances, the coaching team will need to focus on how to overcome travel fatigue. Zhejiang's return to the AFC Champions League after 12 years and their lack of experience in the competition presents both opportunities and challenges.
In addition, to participate in the AFC Champions League also need to invest a lot of money to make good preparation for the venue, which is directly related to the actual input of the Zhejiang team. Once advanced to the knockout rounds, the input cost will further increase, so the Zhejiang team need to weigh carefully. After all, in the league also has performance indicators, need to fully consider the pros and cons.
