It is fair to say that the Asian Champions League has not been a happy hunting ground for Melbourne Victory.
Despite this being the club’s fifth appearance in the tournament (the equal most of any Australian side), Victory has struggled to make an impact in the tournament.
Their record in the ACL is incredibly poor; they have never progressed past the group stage.
With the draw occurring last week and group stage matches to start in February, thoughts would begin to be turning to the competition.
For such a proud and successful club on the domestic front, their lack of even minimal success in the continental competition is something everyone at the club is looking to change.
In the 25 games they have played, Victory have won seven – never more than two a campaign, barring the 2014 season where they won their qualifier and then two group stage games.
They have never won away from home and have been on the receiving end of some heavy defeats.
Before a ball is even kicked, head coach Kevin Muscat will face some serious challenges.
The Asian Football Confederation ACL competition rules stipulate that: each participating club may register three (3) non-citizen or foreign Participating Players. Each participating club may register one (1) additional non-citizen or foreign participating player who has the nationality of a Member Association.
Much has been made of the brilliant recruiting done by the Victory in bringing some outstanding foreigners into the A-League. More so, the importance of Victory’s foreigners to their success in their 2015 treble win, of the Premier’s Plate, the Championship and the FFA Cup, simply cannot be understated.
The Victory’s winning formula heavily involves the contributions of all five of their visa players.
So, if they want to finally see some progress in their quest to add continental champions to their resume, their foreigners play a vital role in their prospects for success and they are only allowed to include three of them in their ACL squad – who makes the cut?
Matthieu Delpierre
The Frenchman is the most experienced defender at the club and has been rock solid irrespective of who is partnering him. Even though he missed a large portion of last season due to injury, his involvement in the latter stages of the campaign helped Victory lift the premier’s plate and later the championship trophy.
Delpierre’s involvement in the ACL is basically guaranteed. His level head and calmness under pressure will be invaluable against some of Asia’s best and most exciting attacks.
Moreover, Delpierre has experience in the top continental competitions in Europe with 15 appearances in the UEFA Champions League and 25 appearances in the Europa League.
Considering that Victory’s backline can be quite young at times, with the likes of Geria, Galloway, Gallifuoco and Deng involved, Delpierre will be an essential part of ensuring the defence can keep up with Asia’s best.
Besart Berisha
Berisha’s inclusion in the ACL squad is inevitable. The Albanian is the spearhead of the Victory attack and a goal scoring machine. He will relish the challenge the competition presents and – knowing what we know of Berisha – he is sure to excel.
He is no stranger to Champions League football, scoring in both the European and Asian versions of the competition with Hamburg and Brisbane Roar respectively.
Gui Finkler
Finkler is considered as the creative force behind the Victory’s attack and has a knack of producing moments of brilliance exactly when the Victory need them. This ability to score vital goals is something the Victory will love to have in their ACL team, however it is unlikely that he will be included in the squad.
In Victory’s last ACL campaign in 2014, Kevin Muscat left Finkler out of the squad instead including central defender Pablo Contreras, full back Adama Traore and Kosta Barbarouses.
Whereas there are no suitable replacements for Delpierre and Berisha, the signing of Oliver Bozanic has meant that Victory have someone who can fill Finkler’s spot.
The fact that Bozanic has also been sharing the dead ball duties with Finkler in the last few rounds of A-League action seems to indicate that the Brazilian will once again miss out on ACL selection.
Presuming Leigh Broxham won’t be needed in the back four, a return to a three man midfield with Carl Valeri and Broxham as the holding midfielders, with Bozanic in front of them in a number eight role could a be formation which gives the Victory enough defensive cover while also allowing them plenty of passing and movement through the midfield.
That leaves Victory’s final spot to be decided between its two wide attackers.
Kosta Barbarouses + Fahid Ben Khalfallah
It is difficult to separate these two. Both have experience at a continental competition, Khalfallah in the Europa League and Barbarouses in Victory’s 2014 ACL campaign where he scored two goals and was one of the best players.
If the decision was to be based on current league form, Barbarouses would have to be selected. Khalfallah has struggled to emulate the incredible form of last season which saw him pick up the Victory medal at the club’s annual awards night.
Kevin Muscat has until January 24th to submit his team before Victory kick off their campaign on February 24 against a playoff winner from either China, Malaysia or Thailand.
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