AFC Champions League: Guangzhou Evergrande staring at early exit, Shanghai SIPG ship four to Sydney
- Fans call for Fabio Cannavaro to be sacked after limp 1-1 draw with Suwon Samsung Bluewings leaves qualification out of their hands
- Vitor Pereira’s side lose 4-0 to A-League outfit after Yokohama win sees them into second stage
A strange day for Chinese Super League clubs in the AFC Champions League in Qatar saw two-time tournament winners Guangzhou Evergrande on the brink of being knocked out in the group stage and Shanghai SIPG beaten 4-0 by winless Sydney FC.
Fabio Cannavaro’s Evergrande side, who are in the only three-team group following Malaysian champions JDT not being allowed to travel to the AFC’s bubble in Doha, drew 1-1 with South Korea’s Suwon Samsung Bluewings on Tuesday night.
The result means that their progress to the knockout stage is out of their hands and rests on Suwon’s game against the already qualified Vissel Kobe. A win for the K-League side could see them progress at Evergrande’s expense via goal difference.
Fans took their anger to the club’s official Weibo account, calling for Cannavaro to be sacked after a disappointing season domestically and in the AFC Champions League.
The perennial champions of China finished second to Jiangsu Suning this season, in a format much altered by the CSL’s reaction to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Failing to qualify would be a disaster for the champions of Asia in 2013 and 2015, although they did not help themselves in their final group game.