The AFC Champions League continues with the 2nd legs of the Quarter Final Stage. The competition is split into Western and Eastern Zones right up until the final. This tie features two of the best sides from both the Korean K League Classic and the Chinese Super League, FC Seoul (South Korea) & Shandong Luneng (China). The Chinese Super League has received a lot of attention in recent years due to the big name signings and high transfer fees as well as salaries.
The first leg finished 3-1 to Seoul and so they’ll take the advantage into the game in China. Here is our brief preview, head-to-head details and prediction for Shandong Luneng vs. FC Seoul;
Shandong Luneng vs. FC Seoul (Wednesday September 14th 2016)
Shandong Luneng:
Shandong Luneng are in their 8th Champions League Campaign with their best record reaching the Quarter Finals in 2000 and 2005. This season they finished the group stages behind FC Seoul and progressed past Sydney FC on away goals in the previous round. They are currently managed by former Fulham coach Felix Magath, who took control only last month. They have only played once since the first leg drawing 1-1 at the weekend.
Key Player: Argentinian winger Walter Montillo scored a fantastic free kick in the first leg for a vital away goal and as scored at the weekend. So he’ll be a key danger man moving forward. Also don’t forget about Italy International and former Southampton man Graziano Pelle as well as Former Newcastle forward Papiss Cisse.
FC Seoul:
FC Seoul have finished Champions League Runners-up twice in their history and continue in their quest to go one better. They eased though the group stages, but required penalties to get past Japanese side Urawa Red Diamonds in the previous round. In the league they’re currently 13 points adrift of league leaders Jeonbuk Hyundai. Since the 1st leg FC Seoul have lost 2 games and drawn once.
Key Player: Brazilian Adriano is the competitions top scorer with 12 goals from 9 games, including 1 in the first leg. Also don’t forget about in-form Dejan Damjanović who has 8 goals in the last 11 games.
Head-to-Head: They’ve played each other 5 times in the past, including 2 games in group stages. FC Seoul winning one 4-1 and the other ending 0-0. The other 3 previous games came back in 2009 with Shandong winning one 2-0 and the other ending 1-1. The final previous encounter was in the 1st leg with Seoul winning 3-1.
Prediction:
Shandong Luneng 1 – 1 FC Seoul
FC Seoul have a strong advantage holding a 3-1 lead before this 2nd leg, forcing Shandong to play offensively. We see FC Seoul playing depth and trying to counter. They looked like they were lacking ideas at the weekend against Incheon but this will be a little bit more of a defensive game. FC Seoul will progress and this will be a tight and maybe slow game.
Shandong Luneng vs. FC Seoul Result & photos
Shandong Luneng 1 – 1 FC Seoul
Our prediction was correct and the game played out the way most expected, Seoul set up a defensive approach and it worked. Shandong scored and looked up for a comeback, but after going down to 10 men and conceding an away goal it was all over. FC Seoul progress to the semi-finals where they’ll meet fellow K League side Jeonbuk Hyundai.
Video Highlights:
Finally
For information on the all of our previous K League Round by Round Previews and More: CLICK HERE
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Tim
Modern Seoul
tim@modernseoul.org
Modern Seoul 