With the dust settling from the draw at the end of September and the divisions and matchups for the 2021 AFC Cup's Round of 32 emerging, the National Football Association (NFA) followed up by unveiling the kickoff times for the first round of the main competition (1/16th finals). Beijing Guoan will face Sichuan Jiuniu at 19:30 on October 14th.
Given the realities of epidemic prevention and control, this year's AFC Cup tournament has been divided into four zones and will be played in a tournament system. Each region gathers 8 teams, and the top two teams from each region will advance to the final 8. The top 8 teams will then move on to the Dalian region, where they will compete in a two-legged Quarterfinal and Semifinal (October 23rd to November 8th) to determine the two teams that will ultimately advance to the final. According to the plan, the final of the AFC Cup will be held in the designated host region after the end of the domestic league season at all levels.
If Beijing Guoan can beat Sichuan Jiuniu in the 1/16 final, they will meet the winner of the 1/8 final between Guangzhou City and Chengdu Rongcheng. Guoan regrouped in Shanghai on September 23rd to prepare for the AFC Cup, and after returning to Beijing on October 2nd, the team had a short break. on October 7th, Guoan played a warm-up match against Tianjin Jinmen Tigers, and despite playing with young players, the Imperial Guard lost 0-1 to their opponents. Nevertheless, judging from the performance in the match, the team has not yet reached its best competitive state.
On October 11, Guoan will embark on a journey to Meizhou to officially kick off the FA Cup. Bilic's team will lack the support of foreigners in the AFC Cup as Bakambu is with the Democratic Republic of Congo national team for the World Preliminaries and new recruit Silva has yet to arrive.
