Urawa Reds, who already secured either first or second place in the group after the fifth match, have set their next target at advancing out of the group atop. It is up to the results of the two important matches kicked off at the same time on Wednesday 3 May: one between Guangzhou Evergrande and Sydney FC and the other between Urawa themselves and Pohang Steelers to be held at Urawa’s home of Saitama Stadium 2002. Pohang Steelers, one of the elite teams of Korea Republic, beat Urawa once at their own home. How Urawa come up with a way to get revenge is interesting to see.  

Coach and Players' Comments

Mihailo PETROVIC, Coach (Urawa Reds)
After the fifth match, we could seal our advancement to the next stage, which had been our first goal. But we have to play tomorrow’s match as we aim to move on with the first place in the group. We totally understand that it will not be easy tomorrow. The opponents already lost their hope for the next stage, but matches between Japan and Korea Republic always get heated. We want to play together with our home supporters, sharing the attitude that we representing Japan can’t lose to a team from Korea Republic. 

NISHIKAWA Shusaku (Urawa Reds)
It’s a match we can never afford to lose, and there is no other way but winning it for us to advance out of the group stage with the top place. We think only about winning it. I will keep defending our goal by controlling the match throughout the 90 minutes. And I want to show my strength to help my team win. Today we make sure to have good preparation for tomorrow. It’s the opponents we lost at their home, so we can’t lost to the same opponents twice. I will hold myself accountable and keep defending our goal with strong determination. 

CHOI Jin Cheul, Coach (Pohang Steelers)
We already have no chance to go to the next stage, but we want to do our best anyway in tomorrow’s match. Tomorrow I want to try new tactics and different players. It’s not easy to maintain the motivation after getting eliminated, but we still have matches left to play in K League and we want to get something out of this match as a team by giving chances to the players who don’t get many chances in the domestic league. 

KIM Kwangsuk (Pohang Steelers)
Urawa Reds are a very offensive team and similar to K League teams in that regard. They put intense pressure on you in the midfield, so we will be careful of that in tomorrow’s match. 

AFC Champions League 2016

27 January 2016 - 26 November 2016

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