Who To Watch In JDT's ACL 2021 Group
Who To Watch In JDT’s ACL 2021 Group
January 27, 2021, the expanded AFC Champions League 2021 group stage draw was concluded under a new process now that the competition now caters to 40 teams where we will see countries such as the Philippines and India being represented for the first time in the group stage. However, qualifying for the KO rounds will be more difficult as simply finishing runners-up is not enough to guarantee it with five group winners and the three best runners-up can only advance
As for Johor Darul Takzim (JDT), the draw results have provided enough challenge for the Southern Tigers to show what they are capable of following a rather eventful pre-season preparation. It seems they were about to finally show it last year following beating South Korea’s Suwon Samsung Bluewings 2-1 at home before strict guidelines by the Malaysian government forced them to withdraw from the competition’s restart held in Doha. Hopefully this time around, they are able to go and represent Malaysia without any obstacles.
That being said, how did JDT’s opponents qualify? Who should we pay attention to from each team JDT is facing and are there any familiar faces we recognize?
Jiangsu FC
Jiangsu FC was able to take advantage of a revised Chinese Super League format due to the Covid-19 pandemic that saw them stunningly crowned league champions for the first time ever in their history. They first finished runners-up in their group in the regular season and went all the way to win it beating heavyweights Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao 2-1 on aggregate in the championship stage final and breaking their dominance. Prior to that season, Jiangsu finished a respectable fourth as both seasons were under the watch of Romanian head coach Cosmin Olaroiu who took over from legendary manager Fabio Capello midway through the 2018 season.
Miranda, the ex-Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan defender who played a critical role in winning Atelti’s first La Liga title in 17 years in the 2013-14 season, is now with the Chinese side and has been a major rock for them in the heart of defence while another ex-Inter player, Italian striker Eder meanwhile scored nine goals throughout the season, including a crucial goal in Jiangsu’s victory in the championship final. As for local talent, their winger Xie Pengfei is one to watch having been a mainstay for Jiangsu since joining them in 2016. His best season ever was in 2019 when he scored eight goals and got three assists, although the total dropped down last year, perhaps due to a limited number of matches played under the likely one-time format.
Nagoya Grampus
Nagoya, who became well-known as the club Arsene Wenger was managing before he made the move to Arsenal, finished 3rd in last year’s J. League campaign, though they had to wait until the final matchday to confirm their AFC Champions League 2021 spot by winning 1-0 against Sanfrecce Hiroshima in a tight race. Even so, they had a rather memorable 2020 due to their mean defence. They kept 17 clean sheets and only conceded 28 goals throughout the entire 34-game season, making them having the best defence of all the teams, even better than 2020 champions ruthless Kawasaki Frontale who conceded 31.
One major reason for that is because of their Australian keeper, Mitchell Langerak. The ex-Dortmund goalkeeper who played all 34 league games, made an astonishing 73 saves out of 99 shots faced, earning a save percentage rate of 71.7%, deservedly earning a lot of plaudits for his stellar performance. The 99 shots on-target faced by Nagoya is also the lowest out of all the J League teams, so the central defensive partnership of captain Yuichi Maruyama and Shinnosuke Nakatani along with full-backs Shumpei Naruse and Yutaka Yoshida should also deserve major praise to keep out attacks consistently. They made sure the Nagoya third didn’t get bombarded with shots and even if their opponents broke through, Langerak will be there to carry out his duties. If this form carries over to the next season, JDT and the rest will likely have problems to penetrate the Nagoya final third, let alone getting the goals.
Pohang Steelers
Like Nagoya, Pohang also finished 3rd in the K League last year following a decent season under Kim Gi-dong though they have to face an extra play-off round where they will face Thailand’s Ratchaburi Mitr Phol FC. The Steelers can thank not only their head coach but also Russian centre-forward Stanislav Iljutcenko and Serbian creative midfielder Aleksandar Palocevic to thank for the goals and assists where Iljutcenko finished as the 2nd top scorer with 19 goals in 22 appearances. However, the pair has already left the Steelers with Iljucenko sealing a big move to champions Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors while Palocevic is rumored to be heading to the capital with FC Seoul. They also lost reliable holding midfielder Choi Young-jun as he went back to Jeonbuk following the end of his loan spell though that was properly offset by the acquisition of Sin Jin-ho from close rivals Ulsan Hyundai who he captained to ACL triumph in the recent edition. While there isn't much wind blowing on who will fill the big shoes of Iljutcenko & Palocevic, Pohang do have a couple of exciting talents in their ranks.
Full-back/winger Kang Sang-woo has been on a resurgence. Primarily a left-back, Kang Sang-woo was converted to a winger when he was playing with South Korea’s army team, Sangju Sangmu. He was Sangju’s main offensive force as he was involved in 60% of Sangju’s goals with seven goals and five assists before he finished his military service and rejoined Pohang about two-thirds into the season. His performances with Sangju earned him a starting spot for Pohang as the season approached its end and we’re definitely gonna see more of him this year.
Another player to look out is Song Min-kyu. The left-winger has been a delight to watch bossing down that flank with his agility, footwork, trickery and technique on the ball with his left foot. He is also a decent goalscorer as he scored ten goals and got three assists. His consistent excellent performances for Pohang earned him the K League 2020 Young Player Of The Year. He is likely to give opposing full-backs nightmares so watch out for this young winger.
Ratchaburi Mitr Phol FC
Ratchaburi got themselves into the play-offs finishing 4th halfway through the Thai League 2020-21 season where the league uses the teams’ positioning after the first half of the season to determine who goes into the 2021 AFC Champions League. But if they want to get in the group stages, they have to take out Pohang first.
A little side note before we go through the players to watch. Kuala Lumpur fans, remember Luke Woodland? The Philippines defender is now with Ratchaburi and could be set to be a part of Ratchaburi’s ACL squad. However, with the ACL rules of the 3+1 foreigner rule as well as Ratchaburi’s huge pool of foreign players having signed four more this season, we may not see him in continental action.
Ivorian striker Yannick Boli would’ve been the one filling one of those slots having scored 8 goals this season, but he was transferred to Port FC, another Thai team in this year’s ACL. Therefore, Ratchaburi would likely call up Filipino striker Javier Patino for the ACL campaign to fill that role. Patino has a decent goalscoring record and has so far scored five goals in 14 appearances for the side. He also has a great CV having played for Chinese side Henan Jianye and Thailand’s Buriram United. Despite that though, he has only played one ACL game for Buriram in 2013 during his time there due to the team preferring other strikers, particularly Diogo Luis Santo and the 3+1 foreigner rule is also a contributing factor. Will Patino finally be able to play consistently in the ACL this year?
Another player that could be taking another foreigner slot is South Korean defender Lee Jae-sung. He is one of the four foreign players recently signed for Ratchaburi from Incheon United. He is no stranger to the ACL as he won the 2012 edition with Ulsan Hyundai when he came on as a 68th minute substitute in the final. His experience will surely help Ratchaburi better prepare for the Pohang challenge ahead.
Last but not least, we look at what we’re likely seeing is a tribute act to Glasgow Rangers’ James Tavernier. Phillip Roller shares Boli’s total for being Ratchaburi’s top scorer so far this season with eight goals to his name and also the 2nd highest local top scorer behind Adisak Kraisorn just by one goal. While he is primarily a right-back, the Thai-German player also can be played as a winger or a wing-back. Therefore, watch out for this man who is approaching the peak of his career.