Melbourne Victory v Gamba Osaka
Date: Wednesday April 9 at Telstra Dome, Melbourne
Kick-off (AEST): 7.30pm
Venue: Telstra Dome
TV coverage: Fox Sports 1
Previous results:
Melbourne Victory 2 Chunnam Dragons 0, March 12 2008, Telstra Dome
Chonburi FC 3 Melbourne Victory 1, March 19 2008, Bangkok
Gamba Osaka 1 Chonburi FC 1, March 12 2008, Osaka
Chunnam Dragons 3 Gamba Osaka 4 , March 19 2008, Dragon Dungeon, Gwangyang
Analysis
Melbourne has made no bones about the fact it needs to win both this match and the return match against Gamba Osaka if it is to stamp itself on the group and go along way to booking a spot in the quarter finals. However, it will have to do that without star striker Archie Thompson, who is out for the rest of the group stage with a knee injury, and Carlos Hernandez, who is still four weeks from a return.
Danny Allsopp will get support up front from both Nick Ward and Adrian Caceres, with Ward still on a limited training program for a groin problem. Leigh Broxham has also been on a similar program while Tom Pondeljak is yet to make his Victory debut as he struggles with injury as well.
Melbourne said it has learned a lot from the recent defeat in Bangkok. Stephane Baga's cracking goal which put Chonburi 2-1 up in the game rattled the Victory and they never looked like getting an equaliser, before conceding a third goal late on. Ernie Merrick has reminded his players that keeping their composure is vital in Asian football.
Merrick has indicated that he will play the same 3-4-3 formation he has for the first two matches. Given that and Gamba Osaka's reputation for attacking football it should be a very open game.
Osaka's ACL campaign to date has not been overly convincing but it has done enough to get four points from two matches. The match against Chunnam saw it 2-0 down, but it managed to rescue a win thanks to its brilliant strike force. A lot has been said about Bare, who has scored three goals in the past two J-League matches, but he has plenty of support in Brazilian compatriot Lucas and Japanese international Ryuji Bando.
The visitors also have a very talented midfield led by another international Yasuhito Endo, while the third Brazilian Mineiro is a dynamic wing back who could cut Melbourne apart down the left.
Gamba Osaka has now won three J-League games in a row and is starting to like a team which is justifying its massive spending on players. Its major concern is that this match is its third in a week, and having to travel to another hemisphere off the back of that won't be easy.
Even so, it will be a very tough task for the Victory to get three points out of this one. Expect plenty of attacking chances. Whichever team converts them will get the points.
Melbourne Victory Squad:
1.Michael THEOKLITOS (gk), 2.Kevin MUSCAT (Captain), 3.Daniel PIORKOWSKI, 4.Steven PACE, 6.Steve PANTELDIS, 7.Matthew KEMP, 9.Daniel ALLSOPP, 10.Archie THOMPSON, 11.Nathan ELASI, 12.Rodrigo VARGAS, 13.Kaz PATAFTA, 14.Adrian CACERES, 15.Leandro LOVE, 16.Carlos HERNANDEZ, 17.Daniel VASILEVSKI, 18.Leigh BROXHAM, 19.Evan BERGER, 20.Mitchell LANGERAK (gk), 21.Sebastian RYALL, 22.Nick WARD, 23.Steve MAUTONE (gk), 24.Billy Celeski, 25.Tom PONDELJAK
Gamba Osaka Squad:
TBC