Melbourne Victory may have bowed out of the 2020 AFC Asian Champions League at the Round of 16 stage but new head coach Grant Brebner believes his side have shown signs of things to come.
The Navy Blue head into the new A-League 2020/21 Season with their confidence boosted following a 2-1 win against Korea Republic outfit FC Seoul on Friday which clinched their place in the knockout rounds of Asia’s elite club competition for only the second time in the club’s history.
After becoming the first A-League team to progress through the group stage in four years, Brebner’s team were eliminated by Ulsan after keeping the 2020 K-League runners-up deadlocked through 65 minutes before falling to a 3-0 loss at the Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar, early on Monday morning.
Off the back of their worst ever A-League season, finishing 10th in 2019/20, Big V qualified from Group E of the AFC Asian Champions League with seven points to advance to the last 16 and head coach Brebner, who was appointed in August, believes his new-look Victory are only just getting started.
“It's a fantastic achievement,” Brebner told Fox Sports News after the group stage. “We've had a few challenges this year as everybody has across the world, but particularly in Melbourne it's been quite difficult.”
“It's a nice way to put a little bit of a smile on our members and fans back in Melbourne.”
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He added: “We only welcomed some of the players 10 days ago, three players met us here in Doha, so we've been quickly trying to gel on and off the park and this result will go a long way to moving us forward.”
Victory return to Australia and complete two weeks of quarantine while they prepare for their season opener against Brisbane Roar on Saturday, 2 January 2021 at AAMI Park.
Sky Blues thrash Chinese giants to record biggest continental win
Sydney FC closed out their AFC Asian Champions League campaign in style with four points from their final two Group H matches, including a historic triumph against Socceroos star Aaron Mooy's side.
The reigning A-League Premiers and Champions hammered Chinese powerhouse Shanghai SIPG, 4-0, as goals from Alex Wilkinson, Luke Brattan and a double from Trent Buhagiar sealed the Sky Blues’ biggest ever competition victory.
The Sky Blues wrapped up their schedule with a 1-1 draw against group winners Yokohama F. Marinos, who are coached by former Brisbane Roar and Victory chief Ange Postecoglu, with young speedster Buhagiar netting his fifth goal in six tournament matches.
The thumping triumph against the 2018 Chinese Super League champions, SIPG, marked head coach Steve Corcia’s first three-point haul in the competition and the Sydney boss heaped praise on his players.
“That game has been coming… they played really well, dominated from start to finish, scored some excellent goals. Maybe it could have ended up more, the final score,” Corica said following his side's 4-0 win.
“We played against a very good team. They're going through, we're not, but I'm very proud of what the players have achieved.”
Sydney FC kick-off their 2020/21 A-League campaign in a Grand Final rematch against Melbourne City at ANZ Stadium on Wednesday, 30 December 2020.
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Glory off the mark in spirited close to maiden campaign
Perth Glory made a piece of club history in Group F by securing their first competition point in a thrilling 3-3 draw against Shanghai Shenhua.
Glory opened up a two-goal lead at Education City Stadium when Bruno Fornaroli and Carlo Armiento scored either side of half-time but the Western Australians fell behind after conceding three times in a chaotic 11-minute spell.
But the 2018/19 A-League Premiers showed their tenacity when Neil Kilkenny converted an 86th-minute spot-kick to snap a four-game losing streak on their tournament debut.
Richard Garcia’s youthful side finished up with a 1-0 reverse against FC Tokyo last Thursday and the newly-appointed coach believes his team are stronger for the experience in the Middle East.
“It was a good exercise in us growing as a group, in us being away together and gelling," Garcia told perthglory.com.au.
"I think a lot of the younger guys learned a lot about senior football and themselves, and the senior guys, along with some of the younger guys as well, have really stepped up and taken leadership roles.”
Glory open their A-League season against Adelaide United on Saturday, 16 January 2021 at nib Stadium.
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