Star players take their games west in Asian Champions League

For much of the last decade, famous players such as James Rodriguez, Odion Ighalo and Santo Cazorla would have been expected to be playing in the Asian Champions League for cashed-up Chinese clubs. But ahead of Thursday’s kickoff, most of the big names are to be found in the western half of the continent.
After just one championship win from West Asian teams from 2005 to 2018, Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia has won two out of the last three continental titles and is the favorite once more especially as clubs from China, who spent big in the previous decade, are struggling financially.
“Al-Hilal is a great club with a hory of winning trophies and is the Asian champion,” Ighalo, who arrived in Saudi Arabia in 2021 from Manchester United, said earlier this week. “There are great players here and this is a team that always wants to win at home and abroad.”

The Nigerian international plays alongside Moussa Marega and Matheus Pereira, signed last year from FC Porto in Portugal and West Bromwich Albion of the English Premier League respectively, as well as several Saudi Arabian internationals.
The chances of Al-Hilal, as well as fellow Saudi Pro League clubs Al-Shabab, Al-Taawoun and Al-Faisaly, are improved as all five groups in the western half are being hosted this month in Saudi Arabia in order to reduce travel in the ongoing pandemic.
Colombia’s Rodriguez joined Al-Rayyan of Qatar from English top tier club Everton in September, and despite the team struggling in the league, the former Real Madrid and Bayern Munich star has scored four and assed seven so far in 12 games.
Qatar’s challenge is expected to come from Al-Sadd, continental champion in 2011, and led ex-Arsenal forward Santi Cazorla as well as Al-Duhail, which appointed former Argentine international Hernan Crespo as coach in March.

“The club completed all the procedures to sign the new head coach Hernan Crespo who will start preparing the team to take part in the AFC Champions League,” the club said in a statement.
Iran’s chances of winning the tournament for the first time have been impacted as the country’s two biggest clubs Persepolis and Esteghlal were expelled in January for failing to meet the necessary criteria to participate in the tournament.
The eastern zone of the Champions League — the tournament is divided into two geographic zones until the final — kicks off on April 15. Thailand will host three of the East Asia groups, while Vietnam and Malaysia will host one each.

Chinese teams are struggling financially as well as with scheduling commitments which has led to Changchun Yatai withdrawing and Guangzhou FC, Shanghai Port and Shandong sending weakened teams.
That leaves South Korea and Japan as the best hopes from the east, with four representatives each. Ulsan Hyundai Horangi and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, which have won two titles each, expect to feature with Vissel Kobe, Kawasaki Frontale and Yokohama F. Marinos spearheading Japan’s challenge.
Sydney FC and Melbourne City have the tough task of improving on Australia’s poor record in the competition that has seen only one team progressing past the group stage since 2016.