Thai champions Buriram get a tough assignment
Tough AFC Champions League battles on cards
Thai Premier League champions Buriram United face a tough assignment in their AFC Champions League campaign next year.
The Thunder Castle, who retained their Thai league title with three games to spare, have been drawn in Group F alongside J League champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Korean FA Cup winners FC Seoul. The fourth spot in the group will go to the winners of a play-off between Adelaide United (A-League third place) and Shandong Luneng Taishan (Chinese Super League third place).
The draw also offers a chance for a reunion between Buriram and their former captain Osmar Ibanez, who is currently with FC Seoul. The towering Spanish defender had a stint at the Thai club and was one of the fans’ favourites before moving to South Korea last year.
TPL runners-up SCG Muang Thong United will begin their campaign in the second round of the play-offs against Johor Darul Ta’zim of Malaysia.
A win would earn Muang Thong United a match-up against China’s Shanghai SIPG in the third round of the play-offs for a place in Group G alongside A-League champions Melbourne Victory, Japan’s second club and South Korea’s Suwon Samsung Bluewings.
The third-place TPL team will also start in the second round of the play-offs with a match against Yangon United of Myanmar. A victory would earn them a tie against Urawa Red Diamond or FC Tokyo of Japan in the third play-off round for a place in Group E.
Title-holders Guangzhou Evergrande, meanwhile, were bracketed with Sydney FC in what looks like a kind draw for their defence.
The A-League grand finalists are the only known quantity for Luiz Felipe Scolari’s well-heeled Chinese champions, who will start as favourites as they seek a third Asian title in four years.
In Group H, Evergrande and Sydney will face whoever is designated Japan’s third team after the Emperor’s Cup final in Tokyo on Jan 1, along with the winner of a play-off.
Among the West Asia groups, Saudi giants Al Hilal were drawn in Group C along with Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor and Tractorsazi Tabriz of Iran.
The second and third rounds of the play-offs take place on Feb 2 and Feb 9 while the group stage runs from February to March with the West and East Asian teams kept apart until the final in November.
Next year’s finalists will take home double this season’s prize money, with the winners getting US$3 million and the runners-up $1.5 million.
The winners of the second-tier AFC Cup will get $1 million, up from the current $350,000.
“The increases in prize money in both the AFC Champions League and AFC Cup will further increase the appeal of these competitions,” Asian Football Confederation general secretary Windsor John said in a statement.
The AFC added that clubs in the Champions League stand to gain more than $3.5 million in performance bonuses.
SARACH SUSPENDED
Muang Thong midfielder Sarach Yooyen will miss the club’s final league game of the season after receiving a one-game ban and a 10,000-baht fine for unsportmanlike conduct during the midweek match against Saraburi, won 4-2 by the Kirins.
Sarach appeared to make a gesture towards Saraburi fans during his goal celebrations which triggered a crowd trouble after the game.
Muang Thong can appeal the punishment within 24 hours.
DRAW
Group A: Foolad Mobarakeh Sepahan (IRI), Al Nasr (UAE), Lokomotiv (UZB), Al Ittihad (KSA)/Al Wehdat (JOR)
Group B: Al Nassr (KSA), Zobahan (IRI), Lekhwiya (QAT), Bunyodkor (UZB)/Al Shabab (UAE)
Group C: Pakhtakor (UZB), Al Hilal (KSA), Tractorsazi Tabriz (IRI), Al Jazira (UAE)/Al Sadd (QAT)
Group D: Al Ain (UAE)/Nasaf (UZB)/Al Ahli (KSA)/Naft Tehran (IRN) or El Jaish (QAT)
Group E: Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (KOR), Jiangsu Sainty (CHN), Becamex Binh Duong (VIE), winners play-off 2
Group F: Sanfrecce Hiroshima (JPN), FC Seoul (KOR), Buriram United (THA), winners play-off 3
Group G: Melbourne Victory (AUS), Japan’s second club, Suwon Samsung Bluewings (KOR), winner play-off 4
Group H: Guangzhou Evergrande (CHN), Sydney FC (AUS), Japan’s third club, winner play-off East 1