est and East Asia tend to
continue along their own
separate football paths, coming
together for international
tournaments and not much
besides. This is not surprising
given that little connects them: the differences
in climate, culture, language and, of course,
geographical location are huge.
That division is clear to see in the AFC
Champions League at the best of times. The 32
teams that enter the continental tournament are
separated into two zones with the best of the west
and the east only coming together for the final.
This year’s edition has, inevitably, been
devastated by the coronavirus and attitudes on
how to finish it, or whether to finish it at all, are
very different depending on which side of Asia
you happen to be in.
The major problem with the 2020 Asian
Champions League when compared with the
European version is that the former had only just
got started when it was suspended. Some teams
had played just two games of the group stage,
some just once; three of the four Chinese
representatives had not featured at all. That
leaves a lot of football still to be played.
The games were initially put back toJune but
there were further postponements. InJuly, the Asian
Football Confederation (AFC) said that the group
stage in the western half will take place in Qatar
in September. In the east, it will be in Malaysia and
probably Thailand in October. After two busy weeks
in which to finish the groups, the knockout roundsFriday,August 7
BANGLADESH:18 Bangladesh
players test positive for coronavirus.
RUSSIA:Dejan Lovren makes his
debut as Zenit beat Lokomotiv 2-1
in the Russian Super Cup.
ENGLAND:Raphael Varane
costs Real Madrid any chance of
a comeback against Manchester
City, with the English side winning
2-1. Gareth Bale is left out of Real
Madrid’s squad, with Zinedine
Zidane saying: “It is a private
AFC Champions
League conundrum
Fixture congestion in the East threatens the conclusion
of the 2020 Asian Champions LeagueW
- with each tie reduced to a single game – will be
held and it will all finish in December.
Well, that is the plan at least. The AFC is
understandably keen to finish its flagship club
tournament but all are aware that it will be
impossible if the virus bounces back. Even the
best-case scenario turns impossible into difficult,
and some clubs in the east are grumbling that the
new schedule is going to be hard to complete.
For western teams – from Saudi Arabia, Qatar,
United Arab Emirates and Iran – it is not a major
issue. Leagues there are beginning to restart after
suspension but there are just a handful of games
in the season remaining. Adding the Champions
League is not a huge deal.
It is not so easy, however, for the eastern leagues
of South Korea,Japan
and China. The 2020
ChineseSuper League
season only kicked off on
July 25, five months after
it was supposed to. The
season has been
shortened and the league
split into two, with games being played in twin hub
cities of Dalian and Suzhou.Japan restarted in early
July with South Korea in action from May. It all
means that the eastern clubs have plenty going on
in October and November. Having three or four of
them from each league heading overseas for the
best part of a month to finish the Champions
League group stage is going to be a headache.
And then there was the issue of 2022 World Cup
qualifiers scheduled for October/November. These
Attitudes on how to finish it, or
whether to finish it at all, are very
different depending on which side
of Asia you happen to be inAsia
JOHN DUERDENconversation, but I can only tell
you that he preferred not to play.”
Saturday,August 8
ITALY:Juventus appoint Andrea
Pirlo as head coach after Maurizio
Sarri is sacked following the shock
Champions League defeat to Lyon.
SPAIN:Lionel Messi helps fire
Barcelona to the last eight of
the Champions League with
a 3-1 victory over Napoli.
GERMANY:Bayern Munich thrash
Chelsea 4-1 in the ChampionsLeague, winning 7-1 on aggregate.
Sunday,August 9
FRANCE:Lyon Women win the
Coupe de France feminine after
beating PSG on penalties, with
England international Lucy Bronze
scoring in the shoot-out.
Tuesday,August 11
UEFA:Kosovan club Drita forfeit
their Champions League qualifier
with Linfield after two of their
players test positive for COVID-19.The Northern Irish side advance
to the next round to play Legia
Warsaw of Poland.
SPAIN:More La Liga players test
positive for coronavirus, including
Real Betis forward Loren and
Atletico Madrid duo Angel
Correa and Sime Vrsaljko.
USA:Portland Timbers win the
MLS Is Back tournament, beating
Orlando City 2-1 in the final.
Assistant referee Kathryn Nesbitt
becomes the first woman to work
a Major League Soccer title game.