Melbourne Victory start their 2016 Asian Champions League on Wednesday night against Shanghai SIPG aiming to leave a mark on the competition having failed to progress past the group stage in the three campaigns they have played in the past.
With the game developing vastly down under, Victory is a favourite to progress in Group G with Shanghai, were they will also meet Gamba Osaka and Suwon Bluewings.
Melbourne have been underwhelming this A-League season, finding themselves closer to missing finals than winning the title, sitting fifth on 29 points.
Coach Kevin Muscat says continental competition and a consistent run of games could work in Victory’s favour in the domestic league.
“Naturally we’ve had a good period of time to prepare, things haven’t gone the way would have liked in domestic competition,” Muscat said.
“This is a fresh challenge for us in terms of trying to get a result tomorrow night.
“If we find ourselves where someone’s fatigue then they don’t play, but there’s none of that at the moment.”
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Muscat pointed out the hard work that was put into Victory’s premiership success last season and how the ACL should not be taken for granted.
“We’re coming up against Mr Eriksson’s side with some very good individuals Ultimately this is where every team in Australia wants to be,” he said
“Now we’re here it’s nothing to be afraid of and it’s a challenge to embrace because this is why we worked so hard.
“It’s upon us, let’s go and enjoy it, but to enjoy it you have to perform at your best.”
Victory veteran Archie Thompson also acknowledged the importance in the competition, conceding A-League clubs are taking the competition far more seriously because of the success Western Sydney Wanderers enjoyed in 2014.
“When you look at the success Western Sydney had in the competition, we want that, I want that. It was pretty special and we can’t think too far ahead we got to put in the performance tomorrow,” Thompson said.
“It’s been disappointing from a club point of view we haven’t made a mark, because we pride of being the biggest club in Australia.
“To prove that you want to progress in these big competition’s like the Champions League, we’ve learnt from previous campaigns.
“We keep learning with every campaign we’ve involved in, we look at the last campaign we were only one or two points from progressing in a tough group.
“We’re excited about this campaign because we can progress to the next phase but it’ll be difficult, we have the players to do it.”
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