The reporter reported coldly Shanghai Shenhua beat Kawasaki Frontale 2-0 at home in the AFC Champions League last October, but it was after that defeat that Kawasaki Frontale won five consecutive victories in the AFC Champions League, including consecutive away wins over Buriram United (3-0) and Pohang Steelers (4-0) to easily complete the promotion. Meeting Shanghai Shenhua again in the knockout round, Kawasaki Frontale is confident that he will advance.

In last Saturday's J-League, Kawasaki Frontale lost 0-1 at home to Kyoto Immortals, but the main lineup made a large rotation compared to the AFC Champions League. Kawasaki Frontale coach Mori Hasebe sent four foreign players, with South Korean goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong, Colombian defender Aidar and Brazilian strikers Patrick and Erison starting. Aidar partnered with Shintaro Kuraya in central defence, flanked by Tanabe Hideto and Asahi Sasaki. The double midfielder is Kento Tachibana, and in front of him are Tatsuya Ito, Hinata Yamauchi and Brazilian foreign player Patrick to support center forward Erison.

Kawasaki Frontale struggled in the first half, and at the start of the second half, Shigeru Hasebe replaced Colombian defender Aidal with Kodai Takai, but the substitution seemed to have the opposite effect, and the goal was broken four minutes later. In the 57th minute, Hasebe Mori made three more substitutions, and parents Akihiro, Taito Wakisaka and Brazilian winger Marsinho came on together, but they still couldn't save the defeat.

In the winter window, Kawasaki Frontale did not bring in much reinforcements. It is just to buy out the French-Japanese goalkeeper Rui Yamaguchi and Colombian central defender Aidar who were on loan late last season, and sign left winger Tatsuya Ito from Magdeburg in the German Second Division. Striker Daiya Tono, who came off the bench against Shanghai Shenhua last year, joined Yokohama Marino, while defender Renyuki Matsui joined Fukushima United. After the winter window, there were only slight changes to the main lineup of Kawasaki Frontale. Although the AFC Champions League has signed up for seven foreign players, South Korean goalkeeper Lee Yong-hyung and Brazilian defender Gerchel are injured, and they and the 37-year-old veteran Yu Kobayashi, who is also injured, may not be able to appear in the midweek game against Shanghai Shenhua.

In last month's two AFC Champions League elite league games, Kawasaki Frontale defeated Pohang Steelers and Central Coast Mariners, both of which were clean sheets. In the context of qualifying, they played more easily, against the Mariners, the normal main lineup only right-back Asahi Sasaki and midfielder Kento Tachibana still started.

In the knockout round against Shanghai Shenhua again, Kawasaki Frontale will most likely send the main lineup of the AFC Champions League when they won 5 consecutive games. Zheng Chenglong served as the goalkeeper, Yukita Takai and Yuichi Maruyama partnered in central defenders, and Colombian central defender Aidal was unlikely to start. Asahi Sasaki on the right is the main force of the iron strike, and the left back may still be Sata Miura. The double back waist is still led by Kento Tachibana, with Yuki Yamamoto cooperating. On the offensive side, center forward Shin Yamada, right winger Akihiro Parents, midfielder Taito Wakisaka, and left winger Marsinho, who came off the bench in the league last weekend, have a higher probability of starting, which means that Shanghai Shenhua will face Kawasaki Frontale at home with almost the same lineup as last year.