Two-time AFC Champions League winners Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao FC will try to bounce back from their poor showing during their maiden game in the 2016 AFC Champions League group stage competitions last week as they face a tough Sydney FC eleven at the Sydney Football Stadium in the Australian city on Wednesday, March 2nd.
Guangzhou featured its latest recruit, Colombian striker Jackson Martinez, in the match against South Korea's Pohang Steelers on Feb. 24th at the Tianhe Stadium in Guangzhou, but the team still settled for a goalless draw to kick off their Champions League defense on a dry note, as per the South China Morning Post.
It was noticeable during the match that the former Porto and Atletico Madrid goalscorer is still adjusting to the pace in Asia, which resulted in a "disjointed Evergrande attack", the report says.
The 29-year-old forward actually came close to netting his first goal in his very first game for the Southern China Tigers, but his close-range shot was denied by Pohang defender Kim Kwang-suk right before the full time whistle.
Meanwhile, Sydney FC was defeated by Japan's Urawa Red Diamonds, 0-2, at the Saitama Stadium 2002 in Saitama to begin this year's tournament also in a disappointing note, as reported by ABC News.
The Reds grabbed the lead early with a goal from Japanese striker Yuki Muto in the eighth minute of the match.
The Sky Blues struggled to keep in pace with the hosts as their attacks were thwarted by the aggressive Diamonds defense in the whole game.
Urawa scored a second goal, courtesy of a penalty kick by forward Shinzo Koroki five minutes after the hour mark, to bury the Emerald City's hope of finally beating a Japanese club in the regional competitions.
Both Guangzhou and Sydney will need to win this match if they want to have a chance of qualifying in the final 16 knockout stage of the said tournament.
The predicted result is a tough 2-1 victory for Guangzhou Evergrande. Martinez will play better from his debut game.
Guangzhou Evergrande starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Zeng; Li, Kim, Feng, Zhang; Paulinho, Zheng Z.; Huang, Goulart, Zheng L.; Martinez
Sydney FC starting lineup (5-4-1 formation): Janjetovic; Abbas, Jurman, Anderson, Ryall, Grant; Naumoff, Dimitrijevic, Tavares, Hoole; Smeltz