AFC Champions League


Last round of AFC Champions League group stage. Situation here is very clear: Ulsan Hyundai have already qualified to knockout stage and have won the group with 11 points. For them this is meaningless fixture and they can afford to lose here. They will surely rest most of key players, as they have away league game on Saturday and that will surely take priority. They are doing excellent in South Korean league this season, they are leading the table and finally have chance to dethrone Jeonbuk. So all their focus should be on the Saturday game against Seongnam and not on this meaningless fixture in ACL.

On the other hand Chinese side Shanghai SIPG are 2nd in this ACL group with 6 points. To progress to knockout stage they need a win here as 3rd in the table Kawasaki should win against already eliminated Sydney FC. Shanghai SIPG are very strong team, current Chinese champions and this season they are 2nd in the table in Chinese league with 8-1-1 record. They of course have the fearsome Brazilian trio of Hulk, Oscar and Elkeson, as well as Odil Akhmedov. This ACL campaing have not been so great for them because of two draws against Sydney FC. But here they have perfect opportunity to clinch promotion to knockout stage, playing against unmotivated Ulsan Hyundai team. I expect Ulsan to rest most of their first team players and Shanghai SIPG at home should deal with 2nd choice players in a must win game.