Guangzhou face tough task without Diamanti
Evergande have to overcome the loss of injured playmaker for their away clash in Melbourne
Three points against Melbourne Victory on Tuesday evening will take Guangzhou Evergrande into the knockout stages of the AFC Champions League, but Marcello Lippi's soccer side will have to secure the win without Italy international Alessandro Diamanti.
The 29-year-old, the club's high-profile close-season signing, did not travel to Australia for the game due to injury, and is one of several big-name absences that will force Lippi into a rethink for the group G clash.
Diamanti is the club's top scorer in the AFC Champions League this season, having found the back of the net on three occasions, while fellow forward Gao Lin is also out after picking up a second yellow card of the group stages in the loss to Jeonbuk Motors last time out.
"Of course, we didn't expect this kind of injury [to Diamanti], but we're going to try our best to perform well. For sure we will make some adjustments, but we are ready," said Lippi.
Melbourne are well-organised and a good team with players with good individual skill, so we will have to perform at our best to achieve victory
Guangzhou cannot afford any slip-ups after the loss to Jeonbuk and Lippi knows his team face a difficult challenge against a Melbourne side that led by two goals in their earlier encounter in the competition before Diamanti inspired a comeback.