ACL Elite: JDT Banking On Home Comfort For Last-16 Decider

KUALA LUMPUR, March 5 (Bernama) -- Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) head coach Hector Bidoglio believes that playing on home ground will provide a crucial advantage when they face Thailand’s Buriram United in the 2024/25 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League (ACL) Elite round-of-16 return leg match on Tuesday (March 11).

This comes after the Southern Tigers had done the hard part - battling to a goalless draw against Buriram in the first-leg tie at the Buriram Stadium last night.

Although the Argentine coach expects a fierce showdown at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Iskandar Puteri, he believes that home advantage will give JDT the platform to showcase their true potential.

“The next match will also be difficult but we will be at home. It will be a different pitch, weather and fans... so we need to show our potential. This result (0-0) is good but, at home, we have to win and meet our target of qualifying for the next round,” he was quoted as saying on www.the-afc.com.

Commenting on last night's 0-0 draw, he expressed satisfaction with his team’s solid defensive display.

Bidoglio acknowledged that his players showed strong discipline and cohesion to make it difficult for Buriram to break through

However, he stressed the need for improvement in possession as they prepare for the return leg.

“The game was difficult but, in our defensive setup, the team played very well. We were very compact but we need to improve in our possession.

“Whenever we had the ball, we found it difficult to find the (right) pass or the space. Overall, I'm satisfied with the players because they played as a team and gave their all,” he said.

The return leg will be the third meeting between JDT and Buriram in this season’s ACL Elite, having also drawn 0-0 in the league stage at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium last December.

-- BERNAMA