Shandong Luneng striker Diego Tardelli. (Photo : Getty Images)
A-League club Sydney FC and Chinese Super League team Shandong Luneng Taishan FC will meet at the Sydney Football Stadium on Wednesday, May 25 for the second leg of their round-of-16 matchup in the knockout stage of the 2016 AFC Champions League competitions.
The first leg of their clash ended in a 1-1 draw at the Jinan Olympic Sports Center Stadium on May 18, an advantage to Sydney as they scored a vital away goal, ABC News reported.
Australian midfielder David Carney scored the opening goal, a crucial one as it was done on the road, at the 15th minute of the contest for head coach Graham Arnold's boys.
Brazilian striker Diego Tardelli managed to equalize the count at the 56th to preserve the tie and ease some pressure off manager Mano Menezes' squad in the second leg.
Menezes remained "upbeat" despite the draw as he said that the team is "more confident now" that they already tested Sydney's mettle in the first game, as per the South China Morning Post.
He also said the team was "well balanced" at both the offensive and defensive ends and they did not give the Australians many chances all throughout the match.
It was just unfortunate, though, that the CSL squad was not able to pull off a win with their good overall performance.
"We have been playing better away from home and if we have a little luck then we can win," Menezes said. "Playing in Asia and playing in the league (CSL) are different. The players have confidence."
"Of course, Sydney is a good and strong team and we know that it will not be easy but our aim is to get to the next stage," he added.
Meanwhile, Arnold said that the next game was not a 50-50 affair but rather a 60-40 one in their favor because of the away goal they scored.
"We made some mistakes and conceded a goal through a set piece, however we were generally good throughout the game," Arnold said. "I don't think the next round is 50-50 now, it should be 60-40 in our favor. We have an away goal, and they will have to play away."
The predicted result is a 1-0 win for Shandong Luneng.
Sydney FC starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Janjetovic; Grant, Anderson, Jurman, Woodcock; O'Neill, Dimitrijevic; Blackwood, Ninkovic, Carney; Simon
Shandong Luneng starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Wang; Zhao, Gil, Dai, Zheng; Li, Jucilei; Liu, Montillo, Wu; Tardelli
