The quarter-final draw for the AFC Champions League has thrown up another all-Japanese clash with Frontale set to face Nagoya Grampus for a place in the semi-finals.
This is a pretty agreeable outcome for both teams. Not only will they be lining up against familiar opponents, but they've also managed to avoid the prospect of a draining long-haul expedition at a crucial stage of the J.League season.
Frontale are at a slight disadvantage with the first leg taking place at Todoroki (on Wednesday, 23rd September with the return leg at Mizuho the following week). But they've shown against Gamba that they're perfectly capable of getting a result on the road.
Not wanting to count any chickens, but either Pakhtakor (of Uzbekistan) or Al Ittihad (of Saudi Arabia) awaits the winner in the semis.
3 Comments:
Yeah, it's not such a bad thing to be drawn against another Japanese team. The only downside is that there's always a risk of forgetting the significance of the game when it's against a domestic opponent.
As an Aussie, not looking forward to watching Josh Kennedy playing against Frontale. I'm assuming he'll be fairly comfortable with Nagoya by then.
Yeah, it'll be interesting to see how Kennedy works out for Nagoya. He should certainly be a handful for Japanese defences and Frontale are particularly vulnerable to his style of play.
The fact that he's so one-dimensional may prove problematic. If Stojkovic is expecting a new Frode Johnsen I have a feeling he'll be disappointed.
Yeah, it'll be interesting to see how Kennedy works out for Nagoya. He should certainly be a handful for Japanese defences and Frontale are particularly vulnerable to his style of play.
The fact that he's so one-dimensional may prove problematic. If Stojkovic is expecting a new Frode Johnsen I have a feeling he'll be disappointed.
Post a Comment