Hiroshima: Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Melbourne Victory will look to bounce back from opening-day defeats in Group F of the 2019 AFC Champions League when they clash at Hiroshima Athletic Stadium on Tuesday.
Sanfrecce’s first game in the competition since 2016 resulted in a disappointing 2-0 defeat against two-time winners Guangzhou Evergrande last week, but they responded well by posting a 1-0 victory over Cerezo Osaka in the J.League on Saturday.
Although they have never faced Melbourne in the competition, they have hosted Australian opposition on three occasions and have recorded a victory each time, with the most recent being a 3-1 win over eventual champions Western Sydney Wanderers in 2014.
Ola Toivonen opened the scoring for Melbourne against Daegu FC before they went on to suffer a 3-1 defeat but, with no A-League games at the weekend, the Victoria side have had a whole week to prepare for the trip to Japan.
Melbourne are now in their seventh appearance in the competition but have still to record an away victory, although they have drawn their two previous trips to Japan, against Kawasaki Frontale last year and Gamba Osaka in 2016.
Source: the-afc.com