Having struggled badly in the A-League this season, Tony Popovic’s holders will be hard pressed to repeat their 2014 heroics when they embark on a new campaign.
Title-holders Western Sydney Wanderers will begin their AFC Champions League defence with a trip to Japan to face Kashima Antlers on Wednesday.
The Wanderers defeated Al Hilal 1-0 on aggregate in November to become the first Australian club to become Asian champions, and Tony Popovic’s side return to the competition in Group H, which also includes Kashima, Guangzhou Evergrande and FC Seoul.
Western Sydney’s first test is away to the Antlers on Wednesday and, although the Wanderers have been struggling on the domestic front to sit bottom of the A-League, Popovic cannot wait to test his team on the continental stage.
“We go to a fantastic tournament now to defend our title. We’ll go to Kashima and try to repeat that,” he said after the Wanderers’ 2-1 loss at Adelaide United on Saturday.
“We look forward to Japan, look forward to trying to do ourselves proud and trying to do the A-League proud again.
“We’re embracing that challenge. We’re proud to be in the ACL.”
Western Sydney have only claimed one victory in 16 matches in the 2014-15 A-League campaign and are 13 points behind sixth-placed Brisbane Roar, who occupy the last of the competition’s finals berths.
But they will hope a return to Asia might inspired a late-season recovery in the A-League, while with the J.League season yet to begin, Kashima could lack match sharpness.
Western Sydney claimed 10 clean sheets in 15 ACL matches in 2014, and Popovic is likely to focus on defence again this year.
There have been several changes to the Wanderers squad since their historic win in Riyadh, with Daniel Mullen and Vitor Saba, who both featured across the two-legged final, and Kwabena Appiah having since left the squad.
Brendon Santalab meanwhile, who played through the pain barrier in the final before undergoing shoulder surgery, will be back on the sidelines after suffering a recurrence of the same problem in 2-1 loss to Adelaide United on Saturday.
Yusuke Tanaka, Yojiro Takahagi, Sam Gallaway, Nick Kalmar and Kerem Bulut are among the newcomers registered for the Wanderers’ ACL campaign.
“I’ve been training and learning with the team since I’ve signed so I’m very keen to finally get out there and show the fans what I can do,” Bulut said.
source:goal.com
STUDIO 3 NEWCASTLE AUSTRALIA 