Sydney FC are good enough to win the AFC Champions League, but to do so they’ll need plenty of things to go their way – including in the A-League.

The Sky Blues’ 4-0 demolition of Melbourne City on Saturday night was as comprehensive as it gets.

It’s a good thing the A-League has a finals series, because with Sydney FC now 12 points ahead of second-placed Newcastle Jets with seven games still to play, the competition would look very boring without it.

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In truth, it looks pretty boring right now, although you can hardly fault Graham Arnold’s team for being so much better than their rivals.

They’re playing like Ange Postecoglou’s all-conquering Brisbane Roar outfit of old, and watching Sydney FC scythe down opponent after opponent, you almost wonder if Postecoglou’s team didn’t quite get the credit they deserved.

But if Sydney FC aspire to true greatness – and to match their city rivals Western Sydney – they’ll need to win the AFC Champions League.

What’s that? It’s a preposterous suggestion not even worth discussing? Nonsense.

If Australians are painfully ignorant of the quality of Asian football – and we most certainly are – then the reverse tends to also be true, with critics on the continent routinely dismissing the quality of the A-League.

Want to know what the majority of Asian coaches think of the A-League? Take your pick from any of the following clichés: “it’s physical”, “the players are strong,” “Australians are tough,” etcetera.



Game after game, that’s all you’ll ever hear the majority of coaches in Asia give the A-League credit for, and if Sydney FC are smart enough, they’ll use such a blinkered attitude to their advantage.

It’s probably why Graham Arnold gambled on picking attacking trio Milos Ninkovic, Bobo and Adrian Mierzejewski for his Champions League squad, leaving cult defender Jordy Buijs to concentrate on A-League duties.

But leaving Buijs out is indeed a gamble for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, if the out-of-contract Buijs wasn’t already mulling over a move away from Sydney before the Champions League squad was announced, he probably is now.

Meanwhile, breaking up the central defensive partnership between Buijs and Alex Wilkinson means Sydney FC may need to rely on a youngster like Aaron Calver to contain some of Asia’s most formidable strike forces.

And that could be a problem against international calibre strikers like Dejan Damjanovic, Obafami Martins and Leandro.

Montenegrin goal machine Damjanovic has joined Suwon from bitter K-League rivals FC Seoul, and combined with the fact the Bluewings boast a couple of former A-League players in ex-Sydney FC stalwart Matt Jurman and one-time Newcastle Jets defender Lee Ki-je, they won’t exactly go into Wednesday night’s clash bereft of ideas.



The same could be said of a Melbourne Victory side lumped in the same group as Shanghai SIPG for the second time in three years, although Kevin Muscat looks like he’s got bigger problems to deal with following Friday night’s dreadful 2-1 defeat to Brisbane Roar.

If the Victory defence find Brett Holman and Massimo Maccarone too hot to handle, one wonders how they’ll go containing the likes of Oscar and Hulk.

And Victory’s demanding fan-base is unlikely to tolerate too many more embarrassing defeats, particularly if Sydney FC start making progress in Asia.

There are plenty of things that need to change in the Champions League, from prizemoney to refereeing to the composition of the groups – last year’s champions Urawa Reds can’t even defend their title.

But another thing that needs to change is our approach to the competition.

Sydney FC might need some luck to win the ACL – just ask the Wanderers – but there’s no reason they should fear any of their group stage opponents, particularly if they can successfully juggle the competition with their A-League commitments.

They should go into Wednesday night’s clash with Suwon as favourites.

The Sky Blues are good enough to win the Champions League. Now all they’ve got to do is show it.

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