Iskandar Puteri –
Defending champion of the Malaysian League, Johor Darul Takzim (JDT) advance to the last 16 Liga Champions Asia 2022. The Southern Tigers, as they were nicknamed, qualified as group winners by eliminating clubs from South Korea, Japan and China.
This assurance was achieved by JDT after a dramatic 2-1 win over Korea’s representative Ulsan Hyundai, Saturday (30/4/2022). An additional three points made JDT end the group stage by collecting 13 points from six matches.
Benjamin Mora’s team managed to win four wins over representatives of China, Guangzhou twice, namely 5-0 and 2-0 and won twice over Ulsan Hyundai (South Korea), each with a score of 2-1.
The other two matches ended 0-0 with Kawasaki Frontale and lost 0-5 to the Japanese representatives in the second meeting. Even so, JDT qualified for the round of 16 as the winner of Group I above Ulsan Hyundai who was in third place with 11 points.
Even though Ulsan Hyundai was the champion of the 2020 Asian Champions League, but it had to stop. While Kawasaki Frontale also had to bite the finger despite being in second place with 11 points. Because, the club from Kanagawa Prefecture failed to achieve the best runner-up status.
JDT’s passage to the last 16 is history for them. This is the first time that Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim’s club has advanced to the preliminary round. The dream to become one of Asia’s best clubs is getting closer, after winning the 2015 AFC Cup.
Not the only representative of ASEAN
Thailand Club BG Pathum also qualified for the round of 16. They won Group G with 12 points ahead of Melbourne City (Australia), Jeonnam Dragons (South Korea), and United City (Philippines).
Unlike JDT, this is the second time BG Pathum has qualified for the preliminary round. In the 2021 edition, they had also advanced to the last 16 but were defeated by Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors on penalties.
For information, the Asian Champions League has been attended by 40 participants since the 2021 season. Prior to 2021, the initial number of participants was 32 clubs or the same as in Europe.
The AFC increased the number of participants with the aim of providing opportunities for clubs from countries that often struggle to penetrate the main round of the Asian Champions League. The impact of this increase in the number of participants is the increase in the number of groups to 10 (AJ) from the initial 8 groups (AH).
With the increase in the number of groups, the competition to qualify for the last 16 has become more competitive. Only the 10 group winners and the six best runners-up qualify for the preliminary round.
Since the 2021 season, the Asian Champions League has also used a centralized format. JDT happened to host Group I with Larkin Stadium and Sultan Ibrahim Stadium being the venues. Likewise with BG Pathum who hosted Group G at Pathum Thani Stadium.
(adp/adp)
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