MELBOURNE FACE UNITED

Melbourne Victory will be taking on Muangthong United in the Asian Champions League playoff at Geelong. Ahead of the match, Melbourne Victory have received a warning from Brisbane Roar Mike Mulvey, who has said that the Australian club needs to expect the worst from the Thai champions. Brisbane Roar have already faced a Thai outfit last season and they came out second best in all areas of the pitch. Even though Melbourne Victory will be heading into this contest as the clear favourites to win it, Mike Mulvey says that the contest is not as straightforward as people think.

Brisbane Roar were beaten by Buriram United in the qualifying stage last season. Buriram United went on to reach the quarter-finals of the competition. Mulvey has said that if Melbourne Victory are not at their best in this match, then there is a good chance that they could be overrun by the underdogs. The Australian outfit Melbourne Victory will be heading into the competition on the back of a poor run of form, which only recently came to an end following a 3-1 win over Central Coast. Prior to that, they lost two matches in successive 5-0 scores.

As a result, the club finds itself fourth in the table with just 27 points on board.

“You cannot underestimate these guys. These Thai clubs are usually backed by businesses or very wealthy individuals, and they can throw as much money as they need to at it. We got smashed for the fact that we lost to a ‘no-name’ team, but that was very disrespectful towards Thai football. They played very good football against us, Buriram. What people didn’t really appreciate was the quality of the opponent,” said Mulvey.

“One thing that will be fascinating to watch is whether Muangthong is going to play counter-attacking football or whether they’re going to come and pressure.