MELBOURNE Victory chairman Anthony Di Pietro says there are no excuses for his club not to succeed in Asia next year.

Victory qualified for its fifth Champions League campaign by virtue of winning this season’s Premier’s Plate, which it secured on Sunday night.

The feat is set to reap the club considerable financial reward as it continues to strengthen commercial ties in Asia.

Its renowned Victory in Business set-up will soon be mirrored by a Chinese equivalent, but it is on the field where Di Pietro now wants to see his team thrive.

He said after Western Sydney won the Asian Champions League last year he was happy for the Wanderers, but annoyed Victory wasn’t the first A-League club to achieve the feat.

But he said on Monday the Wanderers had proved anything was possible for A-League sides.

“What Western Sydney has demonstrated to this league with their wonderful achievement is that there’s no excuse saying, ‘We’ve got a salary-capped league, limited playing and football budgets compared to other leagues’, we can succeed in Asia,” Di Pietro said.

“They’ve demonstrated that and they really need to be congratulated for what they’ve done.

“They’ve put Australian football on the map at a club level.

“We want to hopefully pick up the baton from them and hopefully do something special ourselves.”