J. League Division 1 club FC Tokyo and Chinese Super League squad Shanghai SIPG FC face each other in the knockout stage of the 2016 AFC Champions League tournament starting with their first leg match on Tuesday, May 17 at the Ajinomoto Stadium in Tokyo.
The two teams advanced in the final stages after Tokyo finished runner-up to South Korea's Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in Group E while Shanghai topped Group G competitions during the group stage competitions.
In their last match of the group stage, FC Tokyo nipped Vietnamese side Becamex Bình Dương, 2-1, at the Gò Đậu Stadium in Thủ Dầu Một, Vietnam on May 4, Fox Sports Asia reported.
Japanese striker Ryoichi Maeda unleashed a double with a goal in each half to lead manager Hiroshi Jofuku's men during the match.
Maeda scored his first goal at the 21st minute of the first half off an assist by midfielder Kento Hashimoto while he then netted his second one ten minutes into the second half of the contest via a brilliant individual move against Bình Dương goalkeeper Bùi Tấn Trường.
Tokyo finished the group stage tied on points with Jeonbuk, but the latter has a superior goal difference which made them settle for the second spot.
Meanwhile, an import-less Shanghai SIPG side fell to K League Classic squad Suwon Samsung Bluewings, 0-3, at the Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, South Korea on May 3rd for their final fixture in the group stage, via Yonhap News.
Forward Kim Gun-hee netted a brace at the seventh and 55th minutes while defender Min Sang-gi scored at the 52nd from an assist by midfielder Jang Hyun-soo to complete the hosts' three-goal haul. Kim's first goal was via a penalty kick while his second was coming off a cross from teammate Baek Ji-hoon.
SIPG head coach Sven-Göran Eriksson opted to rest all of his international players during the match as it is virtually a no-bearing game for the Red Eagles going into the next round.
The predicted result is a 1-0 victory for Shanghai SIPG.
FC Tokyo starting lineup (4-4-2 formation): Akimoto; Hashimoto, Morishige, Maruyama, Ogawa; Mizunuma, Ha, Takahashi, Higashi; Maeda, Burns
Shanghai SIPG starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Yan; Wang S., Kim, Shi, Sun; Wang J., Yu; Wu, Conca, Lu; Elkeson