City face ACLE balancing act as Melbourne Derby looms
With their tickets to the knockout stages of the ACLE punched and a crunch Melbourne Derby looming, Melbourne City's clash with Gangwon may prove just as much about management as the final result.
Their tickets to the knockout stages of the Asian Champions League Elite already punched and a crunch Melbourne Derby awaiting them on Saturday, Melbourne City boss Aurelio Vidmar acknowledges their clash with Korean outfit Gangwon FC will be just as much about management as it is securing another three points.
Continuing on a historic campaign for the side, City secured progression to the last 16 of Asia’s showpiece tournament for the first time – and became the first Australian side to do so since Melbourne Victory in 2020 – when they defeated Ulsan HD last week: a 93rd-minute winner from on-loan attacker Marcus Younis securing the historic accomplishment.
Lifting them up to fourth in the Eastern region with just one game remaining in the group/league slate, it means that the reigning A-League Men champions can finish no lower than fifth regardless of results across the region and could, if results fall their way, finish as high as second.
Complicating things for Vidmar, however, is that just three sleeps after the clash with Gangwon, his side will be back at AAMI Park to take on Victory in a derby clash that could have major ramifications for both of their seasons: City set to be outside the league’s top six entering that game, two points behind their crosstown foes. Their journey home to Melbourne has already presented something of an odyssey in and of itself, too: the side taking a one-hour bus ride from Ulsan to Busan, catching a flight to Seoul to Sydney before then making one final jump to Melbourne on Friday.
Gangwon have faced similar, too, travelling Down Under a few days earlier than they normally would and training in the heat at the Home of the Matildas as they sought to acclimatise — coach Chung Kyung-ho noting that the leafy and serene setting of Melbourne, while enjoyable, will stand in contrast to the pressing and intensity they’ll look to bring in a game they’ll need to win to secure progression over rivals Ulsan and John Aloisi-coached Chengdu Roncheng.
But while no players have been added to the injury list since the trip to Ulsan, their progression being assured means there are plenty of loads needing to be managed for City.
“[We manage it] the best we can, to be honest,” Vidmar said on Tuesday. “ The ones who are suffering a little bit more will have a rest tomorrow and try to freshen them up for Saturday. We don’t have every position covered, so that’s an issue, and that’s been an ongoing issue throughout the whole season. We’ll do the best we can. Some are not going to feel 100% tomorrow night. It’s been a bit of a tough journey since the Ulsan game.
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“But, to be honest, we’ve actually thrived in these moments when we’ve had a little rest and have had to back up. We’ve done that in this competition very, very well. So I’m looking for a strong performance again tomorrow night. We’re probably not going to be at our 100% level, but we’ll put out a team that’s going out there to try to perform and try to win, because we still want to try to win this game.”
Indeed, City’s form in Asia has stood somewhat in contrast to their sputtering form in the A-League Men this season, backing up back-to-back defeats to open their campaign by rattling off four wins across their subsequent five matches, two of which came on the road against J1 League side Machida Zelvia and Ulsan.
In the A-League Men, conversely, City has failed to pick up back-to-back wins all season, with their form swinging so wildly that their recent draws with Wellington and Western Sydney represented the first time they had recorded the same result twice in a row all season.
“We’ve been a little bit indifferent, in terms of performing, in the A-League and this competition as well,” acknowledged Vidmar. “But we seem to grow another leg in this competition, and that’s what we’ve done.
“Our aim now is to try to win tomorrow night, get as high as we can in the group and see wherever the round of 16 takes us. But then, when our focus turns to Saturday, the Derby and the remaining games in the A-League, we have to bring this sort of ACL elite mentality because, to be honest, that’s the little piece that’s missing.”
Skipper Aziz Behich, for his part, feels that City’s winning habit in Asia and, especially, their ability to win games late – all four of City’s wins thus far have been delivered by goals scored after the 90th minute – have created something of a virtuous cycle.
“It’s just confidence and just believing that we can do it, when you’ve done it a few times,” said Behich. “It’s a tough competition, you’re coming up against the best teams in Asia, who spend a lot of money.
“But at the end of the day, it’s a football match, you need to have the right mentality, and I think that’s what we’ve had in this competition. Right from the beginning, even in the games we’ve lost, we always make it difficult for the opponent, and it’s going to be no different tomorrow and round 16 as well.”
For Vidmar, last week’s success in Ulsan means that he’s set to return to the knockout stages of the Asian Champions League Elite for the third time, with a third different club, having previously guided Thai side BG Pathum United and hometown club Adelaide United past this point.
The Reds side under his charge famously reached the final of the 2008 iteration of the tournament – going down to Japanese powers Gamba Osaka across two legs in the final – and helped set the stage for Australian sides in Asia, with Western Sydney going on to win the competition in 2014.
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“I just love the competition,” said the coach. “We’ve loved it from the first time we played it in 2008. We’ve had some really great special nights, especially like the year that we got into the final.
“It’s just a different type of game. It’s probably a touch slower, a little bit more tactical, certainly a lot more technical. There’s less transition moments; the A-League gives you a hell of a lot of transition moments. So it’s a little bit more of a controlled tempo, which probably suits us a little bit.”
Behich, for his part, is also experiencing a third campaign in Asia, having previously served as an unused substitute in Victory’s 2010 campaign and then being a part of the Al Nassr side that was eliminated by eventual champions Al Ain in the quarterfinals of the 2024 iteration.
“It’s the opportunity,” the Socceroo defender reflected. “It’s difficult to get there. You’ve got to finish top in our league to have the opportunity to be a part of it. It’s just the opportunity and knowing you might not be there next year.
“That’s something we spoke about at the start of the season as a playing group, that we want to make an impact. We’re not there to make up numbers. We’re there to challenge. We’ve ticked one box, which was to get out of the group stage, but in football, you don’t know how far you can go, so we need to keep the right mentality.”