The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) held a draw here on Thursday, and Mumbai City FC of the Indian Super League was placed in Group D of the 2023–24 AFC Champions League alongside Al Hilal SFC, FC Nassaji Mazandaran, and PFC Navbahor Namangan.
Mumbai City won the 2022–23 Indian Super League Shield and the ensuing Club Play-off against Jamshedpur FC to earn a spot in the group stage of Asia’s top club competition for the second consecutive year.
The biggest test for the Islanders will come from Al Hilal SFC, a team that has won the AFC Champions League four times in a row and has reached the finals in four of the last six seasons. They also recently signed Brazilian superstar Neymar Jr., who has won prestigious competitions like the UEFA Champions League and gold at the 2016 Olympics.
Both the 2021–22 Hazfi Cup champions from Iran, FC Nassaji Mazandaran, and the 2022 Uzbekistan Super League runners-up, PFC Navbahor Namangan, will be making their AFC Champions League debuts.
Des Buckingham’s team performed admirably in the AFC Champions League last year, finishing Group B in second place with seven points after defeating Iraq’s Al Quwa Al Jawiya twice. Mumbai City, who has the advantage of competing on Indian soil, would look for more of the same this season.
India will be represented in Group D (South Zone) of the AFC Cup 2023–24 by the continental debutants Odisha FC and the qualifying play-off champions Mohun Bagan Super Giant.
The other two teams in the group are Bashundhara Kings, champions of the Bangladesh Premier League in 2021–2022, and Maziya S&RC, champions of the Maldives Premier League in 2022.
Odisha FC won the 2023 Super Cup, and after defeating Gokulam Kerala FC in the Club Play-off, they advanced directly to the group stage.
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In order to secure a spot in the AFC Cup Group Stage for the third consecutive year, Mohun Bagan SG, the 2022–23 Indian Super League champions and winners of the Club Play-off against Hyderabad FC, defeated Machhindra FC of Nepal (3–1) in the Preliminary Round 2 and Abahani Limited Dhaka of Bangladesh (3–1) in the Play-off Round.
Round-robin home-and-away matches will be contested, with the group winners moving on to the inter-zone play-off semifinals.
Mohun Bagan SG will host its home games at Kolkata’s Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan, while Odisha FC will play their home games at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.
-IANS
