Ceres looking to earn first

group stage berth tonight
By Adrian Stewart Co

Ceres-Negros FC will be looking to earn their first AFC Champions League group stage berth when they meet 2019 J1 League runners-up FC Tokyo in the playoff round of the AFC Champions League qualifiers. The two clubs clash tonight, starting at 6:00 p.m. (PHT), at the Ajinomoto Stadium in Tokyo, Japan.
Ahead of the match, Ceres head coach Risto Vidaković acknowledged the challenge they face, saying they will still put in the effort to win but needed to be “realistic.”
“It’s very hard especially for ASEAN countries; it’s not easy to qualify,” the coach explained. “You play one game at home and another out of the country against very strong opponents, where the budget is, maybe, seven times higher.”
“It’s another very hard game—even harder than the last one,” he added. “We are always fighting to win—trying to win—we are tactically working on that but, sometimes, we have to be realistic.”
Ceres previously made it to the playoff round in 2018; however, the Negrense side fell 2-0 to Chinese Super League club Tianjin Quanjian FC.
The winner of this year’s playoff round will earn the final spot in Group F, where they face 2019 K League 1 runners-up Ulsan Hyundai FC, 2019 Chinese FA Cup champions Shanghai Shenhua, and 2018–19 A-League champions Perth Glory.
If the Negrense club is unsuccessful in their bid for a spot in the AFC Champions League, they are already drawn in Group G of the 2020 AFC Cup alongside Than Quảng Ninh, who finished third in Vietnam’s V.League 1, and 2019 Liga 1 winners Bali United.
The fourth spot in the group will be determined by a playoff between Hong Kong’s Kitchee SC, Taiwan Power Company FC, and Ulaanbaatar City FC of Mongolia./ASC, WDJ