Urawa Reds dismissed early after being outclassed / photograph: Masahiro Ura
Yokohama F. Marinos narrowly made it through their group, with three teams all finishing on the same number of points. Yokohama started the tournament with a 4-2 defeat in their first match against Incheon United, but they recovered well with three consecutive wins starting with the following match against Shandong Taishan.
However, they lost again to Incheon in the fifth round and dropped to third place. The team was forced into a difficult situation, but their Brazilian front three played a vital role in the final match against Shandong, in which they needed to win by several goals and ultimately triumphed 3-0. As a result, Yokohama, Incheon, and Shandong all ended up on 12 points, but Yokohama progressed as group winners on account of having the best record in the matches played between the three clubs.
Group G standings
1 Yokohama F. Marinos (JPN) 12pt
2 Shandong Taishan (CHN) 12pt
3 Incheon United (KOR) 12pt
4 Kaya FC Iloilo (PHI) 0pt
Last year’s Emperor’s Cup winners Ventforet Kofu, who entered the Asian competition despite being a J2 club, defied the odds to advance to the knockout stages. Despite a goalless draw in their first match against Melbourne City, Kofu claimed a historic first win in the continental competition against Buriram United in the following game, with Motoki Hasegawa scoring in the dying minutes of the match.
They then lost away to Zhejiang, but gained revenge with a 4-1 win in the return fixture and then showed great tenacity to equalise in the closing stages against Melbourne on Matchday 5. Kofu secured their passage to the knockout round in dramatic style on the final matchday, proudly going through at the top of the group after claiming a 3-2 win over Buriram United.
Group H standings
1 Ventforet Kofu (JPN) 11pt
2 Melbourne City (AUS) 9pt
3 Zhejiang (CHN) 7pt
4 Buriram United (THA) 6pt
Kawasaki Frontale struggled in the J.League in 2023, but showed overwhelming strength in Asian competition. After a hard-fought 1-0 win in their first away game against Johor Darul Ta’zim, they then also won 1-0 against Korean champions Ulsan Hyundai.
Kawasaki showed the difference in quality with comfortable 4-2 wins both home and away over BG Pathum United, and on Matchday 5 they executed a 5-0 hammering of Johor to win their fifth consecutive match and confirm their place at the top of the table with one game to spare. Kawasaki have now made a name for themselves in the round of 16, avenging their elimination in the group stage on their last appearance in the ACL.
Group I standings
1 Kawasaki Frontale (JPN) 16pt
2 Ulsan Hyundai (KOR) 10pt
3 Johor Darul Ta’zim (MAS) 9pt
4 BG Pathum United (THA) 0pt
Urawa Reds were aiming for back-to-back championships, but they showed their weaknesses too often and were unexpectedly eliminated at the group stage. In their first match against Chinese champions Wuhan Three Towns, Urawa showed tenacity to equalise at the end of the match, and in the following game against Hanoi, they scored a massive six goals on their way to a huge victory.
However, they were hurt by losing consecutive games against Pohang Steelers, with the away game particularly painful as they had been in front but lost in the closing stages. They recovered by beating Wuhan on Matchday 5, leaving them with a chance of going through, but they ultimately had to settle for second place in the group after going down to the lower-ranked Hanoi on the final matchday. Second place still left them with a chance of advancing to the knockout stages, but seven points was not enough to secure them a berth as one of the three best second-place finishers and the reigning champions left the competition early.
Group J standings
1 Pohang Steelers (KOR) 16pt
2 Urawa Reds (JPN) 7pt
3 Hanoi (VIE) 6pt
4 Wuhan Three Towns (CHN) 5pt