By Jerome S. Galunan, Jr.

After suffering a 4-0 loss in the first leg of the 2017 AFC Cup inter-zone play-off semifinal against FC Istiklol of Tajikistan, Ceres-Negros FC faces an uphill battle in the second leg, tonight, September 12, at the Panaad Park and Stadium.
“Our last game was really challenging but we already learned our mistakes,” said Ceres goalkeeper Roland Müller during a pre-match press conference.
For Ceres coach Risto Vidaković, he said the team is ready.
“We will play our best,” he stated. “The players have fully recovered and [are] ready for the match.”
The match will be aired live on Fox Sports 1.
The winner of this semifinal moves on to the Inter-zone play-off final, where they will meet either Bengaluru FC of India or April 25 Sports Club of North Korea. Bengaluru won the first leg of their series, 3-0./WDJ