Preview of the AFC Champions League: Shanghai Shenhua Aims for Consecutive Wins, Johor Darul Ta’zim Set to Face Both Shanghai Teams

At 20:00 on October 1st, in the second round of the East Asian zone of the AFC Champions League, Shanghai Shenhua will play away against Johor Darul Ta’zim. Shanghai Shenhua is aiming for consecutive wins in the AFC Champions League, but Johor Darul Ta’zim posed a significant challenge to Shanghai Port in the first round, demonstrating considerable overall strength.

Shanghai Shenhua has been making steady progress in both the Chinese Super League (CSL) and the AFC Champions League. In the league, they have 22 wins, 4 draws, and 1 loss, accumulating 70 points, placing them second, 2 points behind their fierce rivals, Shanghai Port. With only three rounds left in the CSL, Shanghai Shenhua no longer holds the initiative in the title race. In the AFC Champions League, however, Shanghai Shenhua performed impressively, overturning Pohang Steelers with a 4-1 victory in the first round.

In Shanghai Shenhua’s lineup, Malele has scored 18 goals and provided 3 assists, becoming the top scorer; André Luis has contributed 16 goals and 8 assists, making him the player who has created the most goals for the team; Teixeira has scored 8 goals and provided 5 assists. Among the domestic players, Wu Xi has scored 5 goals and provided 4 assists, while Xie Pengfei has scored 4 goals and provided 7 assists, and Yu Hancho has contributed 4 goals and 5 assists.

Zhu Chenjie suffered from a thigh muscle strain and subsequently developed pneumonia after a high fever and did not travel with the team. Apart from Zhu Chenjie and Manafa, Shenhua brought all other main players. The journey was very eventful; starting from the training base to Pudong Airport and eventually reaching the hotel in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, it took about 10 hours in total.

Shenhua’s head coach, Slutsky, said of this match: “We take the AFC Champions League very seriously and hope that such high-level games can help the team gain more experience. We will field our strongest lineup for this match.”

In the Malaysian Super League, Johor Darul Ta’zim is leading by a wide margin, with 10 wins and 1 draw, accumulating 31 points, already establishing a 6-point lead. Johor Darul Ta’zim is not a traditional Southeast Asian team; in the match against Shanghai Port, they had 9 foreign players in the starting lineup and only 2 local players. Johor Darul Ta’zim has 7 players from the Malaysian national team and 13 foreign players, undoubtedly making them the dominant team in the league.

Bergson of Johor Darul Ta’zim has contributed 16 goals and 4 assists, being the top scorer and the player who has created the most goals. Ayman has provided 8 goals and 6 assists, while Herbert has scored 7 goals and provided 6 assists, Morales has scored 7 goals, and Muniz has provided 6 goals and 7 assists.

Johor Darul Ta’zim’s Ferretti, Siaham Safavi, Modh Izzhan Talib, Safiq Rahim, Ramadan Seifra Osman, Esteban, and Darryl Sham are not eligible to play.

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