Brisbane Roar faces trips to Japan, Korea Republic and possibly China or Thailand as it makes its return to the AFC Champions League in 2015.
The Hyundai A-League Champions were placed into Group G at tonight’s draw at AFC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The Roar has confirmed home and away ties against Korea Republic’s Suwon Bluewings, this season’s K League runners-up. Bluewings are four-time Korean champions, although their last title was in 2008.
Their other opponents in the four-team group are not yet as clear cut but could include Thailand’s Bangkok Glass, who this week signed Roar captain Matt Smith.
Bangkok would need to beat a Round 1 qualifier (either Malaysia’s Johor Darul Ta’zim or Bengaluru of India) then defeat China’s Beijing Guoan in a sudden-death match on February 17 for a final place in Group G.
Beijing Guoan, who host that playoff, are the Chinese Super League runners-up who the Roar faced in the 2012 AFC Champions League campaign.
The other club in the group will likely be either Montedio Yamagata – if they win the Japan’s Emperor’s Cup Final on Sunday – or Urawa Red Diamonds, the J-League runners-up, should Gamba Osaka (who is already seeded into top place in Group F) take out the Cup final.
While the match days have been allocated by AFC – Matchday 1 is February 24/25 – the exact fixture for each match day is yet to be confirmed. Brisbane Roar will release details regarding fixtures and ticketing as soon as possible.
