Brisbane Roar will be hoping they can become the third A-League team to qualify for the 2017 Asian Champions League when they travel to China to take on Tim Cahill’s former club, the Shanghai Shenhua in the final round of qualifying tonight. The winner of this match will book themselves a ticket in the group stage of the AFC Champions League, joining Kashima Antlers, Muangthong United and Ulsan Hyundai in Group E.
After a dominant 6-0 win over Filipino side Global F.C in the 2nd qualification round, Brisbane will come into this game with a full head of steam. Their opponents, however, will be a much tougher test this time around.
Shanghai Shenhua, led by the highest paid footballer in the world in Carlos Tevez, are a perennial powerhouse of the Chinese football league. They have finished 2nd in the league 8 times since 1991 and while their one title in 2003 was stripped due to match fixing, their consistency is unquestionable. Australian teams have had some success over them in the past, however, with Sydney FC claiming a 2-1 victory over them in the 2007 edition of the AFC Champions League.
It’ll be a hard road for Brisbane, after travelling to China for this game, they’ll need to be on a plane to Melbourne to take on Melbourne City on Saturday night. With a place in the A-League finals all but secured, one would think the importance of this match outweighs the domestic clash on the weekend, so they should be going all out to qualify here.
The Chinese side are led by former Chelsea player and Sunderland Manager Gustavo Poyet, but it’s Tevez that will be the real danger man for the Roar here. The former Manchester United superstar was seduced from home town club Boca Juniors by the prospect of being the highest paid footballer in the world, and tonight’s game will be his first time kitting up for the Chinese side. Pair him with former Columbian national player Giovanni Moreno and you have a host of talent that is rarely seen by the likes of Brisbane Roar.
The fact that Shanghai pay Tevez just over $1 million per week, compared to the Roar’s yearly salary cap of $2.6 million should suggest that they will have the firepower to beat the Aussie team, but it’s not always how it has worked out in the past. There has been a string of Australian upsets over Chinese powerhouses in recent years of the AFC Champions League, with Western Sydney, Melbourne Victory and Brisbane themselves claiming victories in the last few years alone. The Roar had a great win away from home over Beijing Guoan in 2015, which should give them a lot of confidence going into this one.
If Brisbane Roar can advance, it will mark the first time since 2013 that Australia has had three representatives in the AFC Champions League, with last years 1st and 2nd place Adelaide United and Western Sydney Wanderers having already punched their ticket to the dance.
Inter-league play is always extremely tough to predict, the last time that Shanghai came up against an Australian team was back in 2007. It’s safe to say that the A-League was a lot weaker competition back then, and clubs across the board have improved out of site.
If Brisbane can limit Tevez’s production, they will go a long way to winning this match. The home field advantage helps the Chinese side for sure, but they are still in pre-season mode over there, and the A-League team is in mid-season form. That’s the biggest factor in this game in my opinion, the likes of Tevez and the other Shanghai recruits have only had a handful of practice matches to prepare for this, and I think because of that the Roar can cause an upset, or draw at least.
TIP: Double Chance Brisbane Roar and Draw – 2.05 at William Hill
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