'0-7, 0-3, 1-4' Signs of annihilation of East Asian Championship quarterfinals...All three losses against Saudi Arabia → Score 1-14 "level is different"
'0-7, 0-3, 1-4' Signs of annihilation of East Asian Championship quarterfinals...All three losses against Saudi Arabia → Score 1-14 "level is different"
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The gap between East and West Asia is considerable in the Champions League, the best stage for Asian clubs.
On the 27th, Japanese club Yokohama F. Marinos suffered a crushing 1-4 defeat in the quarterfinals of the Asian Champions League Elite (ACLE) 2024-2025 season against Alnasr (Saudi) at Prince Abdullah Alfaisal Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Yokohama, which ended the first half 0-3 in succession to "Aston Villa native" John Duran, "Liverpool native" Sadio Mane and "Manchester United native" Cristiano Ronaldo, collapsed by dedicating the fourth goal to Duran in the fourth minute of the second half.
Watanabe Gota scored a chasing goal in the eighth minute of the second half, but Watanabe was sent off in the 28th minute of the second half, dampening the remaining will to pursue him. In the end, the score ended with a score of 1:4.
On the same day, Thai powerhouse Buriram also failed to overcome the barrier of West Asia. In the ACLE quarterfinal match against Al-Ahli of Saudi Arabia held at King Abdullah Sports City, he made three goals in the first half alone, just like Yokohama. He allowed relay goals to Riyad Mahrez of Manchester City, Galeno of Porto, and Roberto Firmino of Liverpool. The match ended with Al-Ahli's 3-0 victory.
On Thursday, a day earlier, the team tied Al-Hilal (Saudi Arabia) with Gwangju (Korea) and won all three ACLE quarterfinals. This season's ACLE will be divided into East and West divisions from the group stage to the round of 16, and Saudi Arabia will gather from the quarterfinals to the finals.
Gwangju, Yokohama, and Buriram are all leading teams in the East, but they knelt down one after another due to unfamiliar environments that are virtually home to teams in the East and the presence of star players for teams in the East with "Oil Money."
Gwangju, the most powerful team in the tournament, lost 0-7 to Al Hilal by allowing three goals in the first half and four goals in the second half. It allowed back-to-back goals to Sergei Milinkovic of Lazio, Aleksandar Mitrovic of Fulham, Malkong of Barcelona, and Saudi ace Salem al-Dosari of the national team. It was a complete defeat, as he showed nothing better than his opponents, in terms of tactics and individual skills. "When you play soccer, you often don't follow your plan," Gwangju coach Lee Jung-hyo said, "I still feel that I am not good enough in every aspect, including physical and technical skills. Me too."
So far, the Eastern and Western teams have scored 1-14, with a total of 17-52 shootings. The trio of Eastern teams gave up three goals in the first half as if they had promised. It had been foreseen since the news that the tournament will be held in the Middle East starting from the quarterfinals, but the difference in skills was still too great.
Based on the calculation of "Transfer Markt," a website specializing in transfer fees, the market value of the ACLE quarterfinalists is al-Hilal (291.8 billion won), Al-Ahli (275 billion won), Al-Sad (133.7 billion won), Yokohama (27.8 billion won), Kawasaki (24.7 billion won), Buriram (22.4 billion won) and Gwangju (13.9 billion won). The market value of the teams in the eastern and western regions is up to 20 times and at least five times different.
The remaining hope for the East is Kawasaki Frontale in Japan. Al-Sad will face off against Qatar's strongman Al-Sad at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal on Saturday. Al-Sad is the only non-Saudi team in the West Division that advanced to the quarterfinals of the ACLE. Unlike the three Saudi teams, Al-Sad is considered a team worthy of a shot given that it does not have a superstar player from the European big league, but boasts strong capabilities that enabled it to draw with Al-Hilal and beat Al-Nasr in the group league. 안전놀이터
Some argue that ACLE should be played separately from beginning to end due to differences in physical distance and capital power between East and West Asia. Such voices may be bolstered after the end of this season.