Melbourne Victory defender Adrian Leijer says all is not lost as far as the club’s AFC Champions’ League campaign is concerned.
The reigning Hyundai A-League champions suffered their second straight defeat in their second campaign in Asia on Tuesday night in going down 2-0 to Korean side Seongnam Ilhw.
The match came just two days after Sunday’s thrilling major semi-final win over Sydney FC on aggregate over two legs.
And after losing to Chinese side Beijing Guoan in its opening match, Melbourne finds itself with no points from two matches with both Seongnam and Beijing, which beat Japanese side Kawasaki Frontale 3-1 in the other match in the group on Tuesday, on six points from two games.
Even with four matches remaining the Korean and Chinese sides are already firm favourites to finish top two and progress to the knockout stages given both Melbourne and Kawasaki are already six points behind the pair with just 12 points still up for grabs.
But with Melbourne’s next two games coming up against the Japanese team and coming after the end of the Hyundai A-League season, Leijer believes Melbourne will be better prepared for the final four games.
“It’s disappointing and obviously we haven’t got off to the greatest of starts but in saying that, it has been a bit of an interrupted start to the Asian Champions’ League for us,” Leijer said.
“But there are four games left and 12 points available and I am still confident we can get the points we need.”
Coach Ernie Merrick believes Melbourne will have to go unbeaten in its last four games to qualify for the knockout stages of Asia’s premier competition for the first time and Leijer agrees.
“The main priority is to get through the group so if we can finish second then that will be fantastic,” he said.
Leijer said the short break between matches heading into Tuesday night’s clash was no excuse for the loss or the poor defending which saw Melbourne concede two goals from set pieces.
“It had nothing to do with that,” he said.
“Once you are out there, you are up for the game and you get your body right and do all the things you have to do to make sure you are on the ball.”
“It was disappointing to have conceded those goals from set pieces but sometimes it’s good to have a nice little kick up the bum to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Leijer said.
