Ceres-Negros to battle Yangon United tonight

CERES-NEGROS FC will begin its quest for a slot in the 2019 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League when it battles Yangon United of Myanmar at the start of the three-stage qualification phase tonight at Panaad Park and Stadium in Bacolod City.

Ceres-Negros star Stephan Schrock believes that his squad has what it takes against the Yangon United despite the departure of several key players, including Patrick Reichelt and Manuel Ott.

“I’m very confident that we will win (against Yangon),” Schrock said. “We have very good additions, (replacing) the veterans who left, and the team’s mindset is always winning.”

Among the new additions to Ceres-Negros were keeper Ronilio Bayan Jr., defenders Alvaro Silva and Dennis Villanueva, and midfielders Miguel Tanton, Angelo Marasigan and Dylan de Bruycker.

“The team is highly motivated against Yangon,” said Ceres-Negros team manager Iann Treyes. “The adjustment with the new players is in the system. Each of us is 100 percent focused on this game against Yangon United.”

A victory over the visiting Myanmar squad is a must for the Negros Occidental-based football club as it will be their first hurdle in an attempt to qualify to the AFC Champions League.

Should Ceres-Negros be successful against Yangon, they will face Chiangrai United on February 12 on the second stage of the preliminaries. The winners of second round will face the Japan third ranked club in the final playoff match.

The winner of the final playoff match will be part of AFC Champions League’s Group F, which includes China’s Guangzhou Evergrande, Korea Republic’s second ranked club, and Australia’s Melbourne Victory.

If ever Ceres-Negros fails to beat one or all of the three teams, they will be relegated to the group stage of the Asian Football Confederation Cup, the region’s second-tier club tournament.

It was the second straight year that the Negros Occidental-based football team is playing for an AFC Champions League slot after falling short in the third stage of the qualification round in 2018.

Last year, Ceres-Negros hurdled Shan United of Myanmar in the first round (4-3), stunned Brisbane Roar of Australia in the second round (3-2) before losing to Tianjin Quanjian of China (2-0) in the third and final round./PN