Melbourne Victory will face South Korea’s Ulsan Hyundai in the AFC Champions League Round of 16 on Monday at the Education City Stadium in Qatar.
Victory became the first Australian club to qualify for the knockout stages of the competition since 2016, following a thrilling 2-1 win over FC Seoul in Group E.
Goals from Marco Rojas and Jake Brimmer sealed Melbourne’s progression, where it will meet the two-time K League Champions in a one-off match.
WE'VE ONLY GONE AND DONE IT! #MELvFCS #ACL2020 pic.twitter.com/S9S5WpRFEr
— Melbourne Victory (@gomvfc) December 3, 2020
Ulsan in Qatar
Ulsan Hyundai has competed in the AFC Champions League for the last four seasons running and was crowned Champions back in 2012.
Ulsan has won every game since the competition restarted – finishing unbeaten on 16 points in a group that contained FC Tokyo, Shanghai Shenhua and Perth Glory.
Most recently, the K League 1 defeated Shanghai 4-1 which cemented its place as group winners.
📊 The final standings in Group F
🤩 Ulsan Hyundai 🇰🇷 and FC Tokyo 🇯🇵 move on to the Round of 1️⃣ 6️⃣ pic.twitter.com/iYuYYMtryS
— #ACL (@TheAFCCL) December 3, 2020
Key players
Yoon Bit-garam has a habit of finding the net from midfield, scoring four goals in four Champions League appearances in 2020. The 30-year-old bagged a brace against FC Tokyo in his last outing.
Yoon’s attacking capabilities are complemented by striker, Junior Negrao who scored 26 goals in 27 games for Ulsan in the 2020 K League 1 season.
Former Premier League winger, Lee Chung-yong has represented South Korea 89 times and offers Ulsan assists as well as attacking experience.
⏪ A Yun Bit-garam first half brace sealed the victory for Ulsan Hyundai 🇰🇷 the last time these sides squared off.
🤔 Will Shanghai Shenhua 🇨🇳 get a different result today?#ACL2020 pic.twitter.com/Bs4cqqGPT2
— #ACL (@TheAFCCL) December 3, 2020
Brebner on Ulsan
Head Coach Grant Brebner is tasked with preparing the players for their fifth game in Qatar, where a win would see Victory into the AFC Champions League Quarter-final for the first time.
“We will be gathering as much information as we can on Ulsan and it is going to be a very tough game,” said the Head Coach.
“We want to do our best and win it. They [the players] have worked worked enormously hard over the four games. We need to recover and have the players in the best shape possible for Sunday night.”
The boss hailed last night's win which booked our spot in the #ACL2020 Round of 16 #MVFC #Since05
— Melbourne Victory (@gomvfc) December 4, 2020
Last five results
Shanghai Shenhua 1 – 4 Ulsan Hyundai
FC Tokyo 1 – 2 Ulsan Hyundai
Ulsan Hyundai 2 – 0 Perth Glory
Perth Glory 1 – 2 Ulsan Hyundai
Ulsan Hyundai 3 – 1 Shanghai Shenhua
