Urawa Red Diamonds have won the AFC Champions League 3 times and there is no doubt that they have delivered their best performance in this tournament.
The defending champions were only able to hold Wuhan Sanzhen to a 2-2 draw in the first round of the group stage thanks to a late goal from Zuschandi, but I've always thought that a point against a Chinese Super League side is a good result. As always, I expect Urawa Red Diamonds' home form to be crucial for them, as Saitama Stadium 2002 is one of the toughest places for visiting teams to come back with a point.
Urawa Red Diamonds is the best defensive team in Japan. Even though they don't have a high goal difference, they have a lot of experienced and quality players at the back such as goalkeeper Nishikawa and captain Sakai Hiroki, which gives them a lot of confidence.
Juschandi has a good chance of being the source of their goals as he has a very good grasp of the ball, while Bryan Lenschen has been scoring a lot of goals lately, and veteran Hinzan is also quite dangerous. I think the key is in the supply side, so a pair of attacking players, Hiroki Sakai and Takayoshi Sekine, will be crucial in the attacking flanks.
It will be hard for Hanoi FC, who are playing in the AFC Champions League for the first time, to make it over the top, so I think they will have a tough time. They lost to Pohang Steelers 2-4 in their last group stage match, and now they will have to face Asian soccer king Urawa Red Diamonds on the road, which is not a good prospect.
It is expected that they will be forced to defend for most of the game and then wait for a chance to counterattack. Striker Nguyen Van Dinh has been an important figure for the team for years, and newcomer Zultanguio scored twice on his debut against Pohang Steelers, so they have some good players up front as well.
