#CCMvKR - The Facts! - Central Coast Mariners

HISTORY beckons for the Central Coast Mariners on Tuesday, with the Club having the chance to progress to the last 16 of the 2013 AFC Champions League.

Central Coast Mariners (AUS) vs. Kashiwa Reysol (JPN) – 2013 AFC Champions League Matchday 5
Tuesday 30 April, 2013
Central Coast Stadium, Gosford
Kick-off: 8:30pm AEST
$10 Tickets: Please CLICK HERE to purchase tickets to the match.
Twitter: Join the match conversation on Twitter! The official match hash tag is #CCMvKR

Tuesday marks the second AFC Champions League meeting between Central Coast Mariners and Kashiwa Reysol following the Japanese club-s 3-1 victory in March. Central Coast are taking part in the competition for a third time while Kashiwa are making their second appearance.

Central Coast Mariners
• The Mariners have not lost in their last five AFC Champions matches at Gosford but they are looking for their first home win against a Japanese club after losing 5-0 to Kawasaki Frontale in 2009 and drawing 1-1 with Nagoya Grampus last year.
• Seven players who started in the 1-0 win against Suwon last Tuesday were also in the starting line-up for the A-League grand final against Western Sydney two days earlier. Three other grand final players also came on as substitutes against Suwon.
• The Mariners have used 20 of the 25 players in their squad with only goalkeeper Mathew Ryan and defender Trent Sainsbury starting in all five of their matches.
• Captain John Hutchinson and midfielder Brent Griffiths are available to return after serving one-game suspensions.

Domestic form
• Central Coast Mariners claimed their maiden A-League championship when they beat Western Sydney Wanderers 2-0 in the grand final on April 21 thanks to a Patrick Zwaanswijk header and a Daniel McBreen penalty.

Kashiwa Reysol
• Kashiwa Reysol are visiting Australia for the first time in the AFC Champions League. Japanese clubs have a mixed record in their matches Down Under with six wins, three draws and five defeats in 14 visits.
• Kashiwa are their fourth highest scoring side in the tournament with 11 goals. Only Al Ahli and Guangzhou Evergrande (14) and Al Gharafa (12) have scored more.
• Kashiwa have four players with two goals each – Masato Kudo, Junya Tanaka, Ryoichi Kurisawa and Leandro Domingues.
• With 11 points, they have the second most points in the Group Stage after Group C leaders Al Ahli, who have 13.

Domestic form
• Kashiwa suffered a stunning 4-0 home defeat against Omiya Ardija in the J.League last Friday to drop to 11th in the table, 10 points behind Omiya, who leapfrogged Yokohama F.Marinos into top spot after eight games.

Group H Background
With Japan-s Kashiwa Reysol sealing first place in Group H and Korea-s Suwon Bluewings eliminated after going winless through the first five rounds of games, the battle for second place and a spot in the Knockout Stage has come down to Australia-s Central Coast Mariners and Chinese newcomers Guizhou Renhe.

Having failed to progress in their previous two appearances in the competition, Central Coast put themselves into a strong position to join Kashiwa in the last 16 after stunning Suwon with a 1-0 win in Korea last week.

Little had been expected of the Mariners, who had beaten Western Sydney Wanderers 2-0 in the A-League Grand Final on April 21 before making the long journey to Korea to face Suwon just 48 hours later. The Australian side had failed to win in eight previous away matches in the AFC Champions League but they stole all three points when Michael McGlinchey scored on the break 10 minutes from time.

With Guizhou managing only a 1-1 draw at Kashiwa, Central Coast now have a two-point advantage over the Chinese side and they will advance to the Knockout Stage if they beat Kashiwa or if Guizhou fail to beat Suwon in the other Group H game.

Guizhou rescued their hopes of reaching the Round of 16 thanks to Li Kai-s 85th-minute equaliser at Kashiwa but to qualify, they must beat Suwon and hope that Central Coast are unable to win against Kashiwa in their final game.

While Central Coast and Guizhou battle it out for the runners-up spot, Kashiwa will travel to Australia knowing that they have already sewn up first place and a clash with the runners-up of Group F – either China-s Guangzhou Evergrande, Korea-s Jeonbuk Motors or Japan-s Urawa Red Diamonds – in the Round of 16.

Suwon meanwhile will be looking to rescue something from a poor campaign that has seen them bow out at the Group Stage for the first time since 2005 after losing twice and drawing three times in their first five games.