Shanghai Port vs Yokohama F. Marinos

Pudong Football Stadium is the venue as Shanghai Port and Yokohama F. Marinos lock horns in the first leg of their AFC Champions League last-16 tie.

Back-to-back Chinese Super League winners have often struggled on the continental stage and are still waiting for a standout result in the AFC Champions League. However, after kicking off their domestic title defense with consecutive two-goal margin victories, they’ll take the field in high spirits, seeking defensive improvement after a leaky league-stage campaign. Indeed, Kevin Muscat’s side conceded an ominously-looking 18 goals in the group phase across eight games and only managed to win two (D2, L4). Successive losses by 2+ goals ‘to nil’ toward the end of the opening phase renewed Shanghai’s skepticism ahead of this fixture, especially considering one came at the hands of Yokohama on this ground on Matchday 8.

Meanwhile, Muscat’s former side fared tremendously well during the league phase despite commencing their AFC Champions League journey with a 4-1 defeat to Gwangju FC. They had since won six continental matches on the trot to finish top of the table, three points clear of second-placed Kawasaki Frontale while boasting an impressive +17 goal difference across those triumphs (GF:20, GA:3). Both their away wins in this season’s competition came by multiple goals ‘to nil’ and saw them score at least once beyond the 60th minute, highlighting the potential for a thrilling finish. Manager Steve Holland probably won’t care about the aesthetics if the Marinos uphold their 100% win ratio in away H2Hs (W2).