Malaysian hurdle for Bengaluru FC in AFC Champions League; tough draws for BFC & East Bengal in AFC Cup
The draw for the AFC Champions League was announced today, and Bengaluru FC will be facing the Malaysian team Johor Darul Ta'zim FC in Round 1 of the preliminary tie. The I-League champions will have to play 2 preliminary matches and 1 playoff tie to qualify to the group stage, but should they fail to qualify, they will be playing in the AFC Cup.
If they manage to defeat Johor, they will then face Guangzhou R&F, the Chinese club managed by former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, who they played and lost to 0-3 in one of their pre-season friendlies.
East Bengal and Bengaluru FC get tough draws in AFC Cup
I-League champions Bengaluru FC and runners-up East Bengal have been drafted respectively into Group E and F for the AFC Cup, Asian football's second-tier club competition after the draw was announced on Wednesday.
Bengaluru FC have been seeded into Group E alongside Persipura Jayapura (Indonesia) and Warriors FC/Tampine Rovers. They will be joined by the winner of playoff round 1 between Maziya (Maldives) or Ceres (Philippines).
On the other hand, runners-up East Bengal have drawn into the same group as Kitchee (Hong Kong), Johor Darul Ta'zim/Selangor (Malaysia) and Balestier Khalsa FC (Singapore).