Lion City Sailors and BG Tampines Rovers handed mixed draws in ACL 2 group stage
The Lion City Sailors' Bart Ramselaar attempting a shot in their 2-1 loss to Emirati club Sharjah FC in last season's AFC Champions League 2 final at Bishan Stadium.
SINGAPORE – The Lion City Sailors' bid for another improbable run to the AFC Champions League 2 final was given a boost on Aug 15 after they were handed a favourable draw for the group stages of the 2025-26 season.
In the draw conducted at the InterContinental in Kuala Lumpur, the Singapore Premier League (SPL) champions avoided teams from China, Japan, Australia and South Korea.
Instead, they found themselves in Group G with fellow South-east Asian sides – Thai League 1 runners-up Bangkok United, Malaysia Super League runners-up Selangor FC and Indonesia Liga 1 champions Persib Bandung.
The ACL 2 features 32 teams from the West and East regions, who have been split into eight groups of four teams. Matches will be played in a home-and-away round-robin format, from Sept 17 to Dec 11 for the east zone, with the top two sides from each group advancing to the round of 16 in February 2026.
The final will be staged on May 16, 2026.
While Sailors coach Aleksandar Rankovic did not comment on the outcome of the draw, the Serb said in a media statement that last season's run to the final 'wrote us into the history books', but it is not realistic to expect that every season.
'It was an extraordinary achievement to reach the final, and I have to acknowledge that we got there with a bit of luck as well as the hard work from everyone in the team,' he added.
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'For sure, our results in the ACL 2 last season mean a few teams will take us more seriously, but we're still considered underdogs at the Asian level. There are still many steps for us to take to reach the level of the top teams in the region. For us, the focus is on our own journey and taking a few steps forward each season at the continental level.
'The primary target remains getting past the group stage, and we'll talk about other objectives once we get there.'
Last season, SPL's only privatised side became the first Singaporean outfit to reach the final of a major Asian club competition, where they lost 2-1 to the United Arab Emirates' Sharjah FC in front of a capacity crowd of 9,737 at Bishan Stadium in May.
The Sailors' unprecedented voyage to the final started with them topping their group ahead of Thai League 1 club Port FC, Chinese Super League club Zhejiang Professional and Persib in the ACL 2's inaugural season
There was a convincing 7-2 aggregate win over another Thai top-tier club, Muangthong United, in the round of 16 before lady luck shone on them, as they were awarded a 3-0 win in the quarter-final, first leg with Sanfreece Hiroshima despite losing 6-1 after the Japanese side fielded an ineligible player.
They then held the Japanese side to a 1-1 draw at home.
In the semi-finals, the Sailors came through with a 2-1 aggregate win over Australia's Sydney FC to book a historic berth in the final.
Meanwhile, SPL runners-up BG Tampines Rovers will be looking to improve on their ACL 2 performance, although the draw this time was not kind to them.
The Stags are in Group H with South Korea's Pohang Steelers, Thai powerhouses BG Pathum United and the Philippines' Kaya FC-Iloilo.
Tampines coach Akbar Nawas described it as an 'exciting draw', adding: 'There are three very strong teams. BG Pathum have quality, Pohang are of top K-League standard, and Kaya are champions of the Philippines.
'We respect them, but we'll go there to compete, take points, and show that we can match up. It is a big challenge, but one we look forward to. Our objectives will remain evident throughout that is to be competitive in every game, fight for points, and give ourselves a chance to progress. '
In their 2024-25 campaign, Tampines did not advance to the knockout rounds after they finished third in their group with eight points from six matches. Thailand's Bangkok United and Vietnam's Nam Dinh FC progressed instead.
In the East region's other groups, Gamba Osaka, one of the tournament favourites, were placed in Group F alongside Nam Dinh (Vietnam), Ratchaburi (Thailand) and Eastern (Hong Kong), while Beijing Guo'an (China), Macarthur FC (Australia), Tai Po (Hong Kong) and Cong An Ha Noi (Vietnam) are in Group E.
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