So the ACL draw is next Thursday 22 November at 7:30pm Sydney time. Confirmed teams from the East side of the draw are:
Several more to come obviously.
It would be nice to have at least one new club to play and hopefully a less difficult draw than we had last time around.
Yeah lets not get 3 ex-winners and both teams that make the east final this time. New teams would be fun but I think we always get the Japan/China/Korea teams as we’re normally in the same pots as the Thai or other teams
I dunno if its possible but I’d be all over an away trip to Thailand or Malaysia
The full details for the AFC Champions League (commonly referred to as the ACL) can be found here
Last year we drew the ultimate group of death with the top two in our group (Suwon and Kashima) going on to play each other in the semi-final. They would both have played the finals if the rules weren’t written to ensure an East team plays a West team.
To qualify for the Group Stage, the Newcastle Jets must play a Preliminary round 2 game at home on 12 Feb 2019 against the Indonesian League premiers (not yet known who) or Home United from Singapore. Here is what is currently know of the schedule and competitors for the Group Stage.
Below are the Teams that have already qualified for the Group Stage.
No Tractor fc this season. What a bummer.
I know nothing about Tractor FC but, on the basis of their name alone, am willing to bet that their home ground is in the middle of a running track.
Best possible option for an away day in the ACL seems to be this. If Hà Nội FC can beat Bangkok United in the preliminary stage and then find their way into our group, the weather in Hanoi is pleasant for all the possible away days.
So counting the slots from Asia East there, I can only see 12. I assume the other 4 are assigned one each to Korea and China, and two to Japan - they always have a team in each group, right?
Hahaha you are absolutely correct sir. A massive running track at that too.
I think that’s right, yeah.
Yes. Twelve teams qualify directly for the group stage from each of the East and West zones, with 13 and 14 teams respectively fighting in a playoff round for the remaining four spots resulting in two groups of 16 each. Club rankings determine the number of spots each country gets.
A bit of a write up from Fox on the teams which could still qualify:
I think we can give it a real good crack this year. I’m especially keen to see Alf running at Asian defenders.
Unfortunately there’s no Matt Simon running at confused and frightened defenders this year. They never knew what hit them (it was elbows).
I’m worried we wont have the depth to be competitive. Trent’s ACL and De Jong’s injury history has shattered my confidence. Hoping De Jong can bounce back and stay fit, maybe we can do ok? I don’t think we can find a replacement for Buhagiar’s preseason form for what we would have been paying him though.
People can watch the draw here with Arabic commentary (some English in there)
Just going through West now.
Edit: sorry for the above mistake in the post I’ve now deleted - got confused by this nonsense system.
Shanghai sipg, Kawasaki frontale and most likely the 4th Korean team.
How can 3 teams who qualified by winning their leagues get drawn in the same group?
Lol this again. Who’s the fourth team out of?
