Yokohama F.Marinos vs Shangdong Taishan

Yokohama F.Marinos and Shangdong Taishan are set to trade tackles in a crunch AFC Champions League quarter-final tie at the Nissan Stadium.

Goals on either side of halftime in a 2-1 first-leg win in China solidified Yokohama F.Marinos’ pursuit of their first-ever Champions League title, but they must finish the job at home. Avoiding defeat will do the trick, yet after a narrow 1-0 loss to domestic rivals Avispa Fukuoka in their last home outing, they can’t take anything for granted. That was their first home league loss in eight matches (W5, D2 – 90 minutes only), so there’s no reason for panic. However, an evenly-balanced H2H record on home soil (W1, L1) is a reason for concern. Scoring first could prove decisive, considering both previous meetings between Yokohama and Shandong at this venue have seen the winner on the day keep a clean sheet.

Meanwhile, visiting Shandong have a high hill to climb if they’re to become only the fourth Chinese club to claim continental glory. Slow to recover from the first-leg heartache, Choi Kang-hee’s side drew 0-0 at home against Beijing Guoan in the Super League last weekend. After another underwhelming home performance, hitting the road could be a blessing in disguise for Shandong, who thumped Yokohama’s domestic rivals Kawasaki Frontale 4-2 in Japan in their last-16 tie. That victory forms part of the Chinese giants’ near-flawless away record in this season’s Champions League (W3, L1). Encouragingly for the traveling fans, ‘Taishan Dui’ netted 2+ goals in all three of those wins, which is the first prerequisite to turn this tie on its head.