Evergrande are clubgowi darlings, we must have bet them ten times over the last three seasons and they have never let us down, notes from their Saturday win over Al-Ahly are reproduced below, along with two further previews to give some background information. I am really pleased that they got the match up they came for and if the run is going to end here and it probably will, it will be a remarkable end to an amazing couple of years. Dario Conca (see below) is returning to Fluminense after the tournament and the rest of the squad will surely break up as there is nothing new for the bigger names to achieve in China or Asia, having said that, few clubs will be able to match the salary package they receive from Evergrande.

Bayern are not the type of club to take things easy, but this match will not be "normal", there will be 23 players stripped and changed, 12 on the bench and the temptation will be there to introduce players who have seen limited game time this season, especially with referee Bakary Papa Gassama likely to be a little more lenient than the Bavarians are used to in European/International competition. Arjen Robben is missing, Evergrande are already used to the surroundings and stadium, having played their opener here in Agadir. Franck Ribery did not play from the start in the Bundesliga game at the weekend, I doubt they were saving him for Guangzhou, that might be the case, but both he and Jerome Boateng spoke about being mentally and physically tired and there is the possibility that they are kind of in Winter break mode already. They do not play another Bundeliga game until the end of next month and their arrival in sunny and warm Morocco, will have done little to change the "pre season" feel and we might not see them at their competitive best until the final. Bayern are superior in all aspects of the game, but Evergrande are at least on a par with many of the teams that Bayern have played and in some cases struggled against (BATE for example) in the Champions League and there is no need for the German giants to run up a big score, with another match in four days time. 36.0 for Guangzhou to win is very tempting I must be honest, but I and some of you will not betting the Chinese team with "our" money, so can perhaps afford to "waste" a little,it is a little different if you have only come to know them recently. I have also seen 2.25/2.30 for both to score and that would be my selection if freely available, but it is not. That just leaves the match handicap, 3-1 Bayern is my correct score call and I will take 1.25 units Guangzhou Evergrande +2.5 goals 2.01 asian line/Ibramarket.

Good Luck.

World Club Cup: Guangzhou Evergrande - Al-Ahly (written 14/12)

African champions Al-Ahly stand between clubgowi favourites Guangzhou Evergrande and a semi final with Bayern Munich, which is a massive incentive for the AFC Champions League winners and perhaps a final big club game on the world stage for Marcello Lippi. All the background information about the Chinese superclub is below the good luck sign off and this is far and away (IMO) the best team to every come out of the continent. Since winning the CL it has been all about this competition and I have to take them to win and to try and do so with the minimum of fuss, to keep as much in the bank for Bayern as possible. Ah-Ahly are strong and experienced opponents, but have been in their off season for five weeks and preparation for this tournament was badly interupted by Egypts' ill fated World Cup playoff games with Ghana, which left the squad ( 11 Al-Ahly players ) and nation devastated. I suppose you could see this as an opportunity to restore some pride, but they might need longer for the scars to heal. I expect Evergrande to take this chance to show the World what Asia already knows. 1.25 units Guangzhou Evergrande -0.75 ball 2.17 asian line/Ibramarket.

AFC Champions League: Kashiwa Reysol- Guangzhou Evergrande-Kashiwa Reysol (written 02/10)

Ahead of last week's first leg I wrote ...

I have been championing Evergrande for the best part of two years, they are a joy to watch and it will be a travesty of justice if they do not win the Champions League this season. They are now just eight days and two matches with Reysol away from a place in the final and to be honest, do not see anyone stopping them this year and they really are the class act of Asia and although money has been no object, Marcello Lippi has done an incredible job with this group of players. I last discussed them in real detail ahead of their last 16 match with Central Coast Mariners and that preview is reproduuced at the foot of the page. They have added a new superstar to their squad this season Elkeson, with the young Brazilian 26-24-9 in Super League and two Champions League fixtures, he was only introduced to the competition for the quarter finals and hit the ground running with three of the six goals in a 6-1 aggregate win over Lekhwiya Doha. He was not eligible before that, but such was his impact at the club from the day he joined, that Cleo (see those old notes) was allowed to leave and made his way to Reysol. He will face his old club today and that could come back to bite Evergrande, but I see it more of a sign of the visitors constant upgrading, that a player formerly seen as key, was allowed to leave.

Evergrande are a level above everyone else and they are Barcelona of two seasons ago in asian terms. The Chinese super club won that 4-1 after falling behind early to a goal from former player Cleo, they ran away with matters after that, with two goals from both Muriqui and Conca, the duo now have 18 goals between them in the competition and are not even the teams most potent goal threat any longer. Marcelo Lippi is taking little for granted, rested most of his stars for the weekend game, which they still won 4-0, with top scorer Elkeson coming off the bench to score a couple himself. No injury concerns and whilst they have no need to win, it is National Day holiday in China and interest in the match is greatly increased because of that and actually "through the roof", goodness knows how many television viewers there will be. Evergrande will surely be giving this their full attention. I expect their normal steady start and once the match is 100% safe, for them to push on and look to entertain, which is their normal modus operandi. Ahead of their home leg quarter final with Lekhwiya Doha, I wrote....
However and as we know, there is always an however,in their four home matches this season, Evergrande have scored ten goals, but only three before the break (twice 0-0 at the half) and they do tend to have more of a cutting edge in the second period after Marcello Lippi has worked his half time magic.

They won that 2-0 with two second half goals, so now 12 of 15 in the competition have come after the break and it is a similar story in Super League, with six of their seven goals in their last three home starts, also coming after the half time team talk.

AFC Champions League:  (May 15th)

Central Coast Mariners-Guangzhou Evergrande

Last 16 matches, which have gone back to two legs this year, the return fixtures are next week and they will be more interesting from a betting perspective. Mariners are now into unknown territory after making the knockout stages for the first time, infact they are only the third Australian team ever to make it this far. Problem for them is two fold, one is that their regular season ended in March and whilst they have been involved in playoffs and Champions League football, that all came at the end of a long season and things will get tougher from now on in, their last competitive match was 15 days ago, the second concern is that they are playing Guangzhou Evergrande !

CCM lost that last match at home to Kashiwa Reysol 3-0, it was a meaningless fixture for the Japanese team, who had already won the group, Mariners needed three points to secure a place in the last 16 , they blew that and are only here courtesy of Guizhou Renhe gifting them a spot in the knockout stage. They were nervous in that and it is hard to see the situation changing against a stronger opponent, they will surely need to take a lead to the return leg and we have already seen them struggle when they attempt to make the running and force the issue against the stronger asian teams. Maybe they know that, which is why their coach Graham Arnold has been speaking a lot in the build up about the importance of keeping a cleansheet and even said he would be "happy" with 0-0. Well that would be even more dangerous IMO, if they sit back against the visitors and invite pressure, that seems sure to only end one way.

I am a big fan of Evergrande and they are hugely entertaining to watch, you all know about them now, but I will give some basic background information from my notes of last season... "Chinese companies have started to "throw" money at the sport and Guangzhou have received massive investment from the Evergrande Real Estate. They have spent money like water, signing arguably three of the very top domestic players in Gao Lin, Sun Xiang and Zheng Zhi, two of whom have played for big european clubs and with some 200 international appearrances between the trio. They then spent big on the Brazilian trio, Paulao, Muriqui and Cleo, another $10m on Dario Conca the Argentine playmaker from Fluminense , where he was voted Brazilian footballer of the year. They have recently completed the paperwork to sign Lucas Barrios next month, which takes the spending on that international quintet to circa $35m and a similar amount on yearly salaries, Conca is said to be on $200k per week !

The club had fallen on hard times and down to League 1, before the new owners stepped in ,but the first wave of new signings helped them win that easily and last year, their first back in the top flight, they won  Super league by a massive 15 points, they are already top once again after just 12 games, but now desire an international title. To that end, Marcello Lippi has been brought in as coach on a contract worth over 10m euros per year , nice work if you can get it at pensionable age ! The four South American players are waaaay too good to be playing at this level and whilst Conca has been a little too outspoken at times (which got him in trouble with the previous boss, although Lippi wiped that slate and suspension clean) , they have all looked pretty committed to the cause, not just here for a paycheque and unplayable at times, like in the incredible impressive 5-1 win at Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors ( they would have comfortably beaten any team in Asia that day). Inconsistency has been a problem at times, especially when they have expected to win against lesser opponents, but Lippi has been brought in to sort that out and they should have enough to see FCT off today, easily if things go well. Original line was higher, but I couldn't put this up on Sunday night for a variety of reasons, so not a max bet, but I really like this, so .

They will be without Muriqui upfront , but Lucas Barrios, Cleo and Dario Conca are all prolific goalscorers and more than capable of taking the chances that will surely come their way. The visitors might be tempted to try and sit on their two goal advantage, to be honest, that would be perfect as they are offensively minded usually and not really set up to play on the back foot. Al Ittihad coach Raul Caneda seems well aware of the huge potential the hosts have and said "We will play against a new giant in football,China is a new giant that is starting to appear and Guangzhou has been the leader of football in China in the last two years, I think the Chinese league in the next year will be the best league in Asia and in four or five years it will be one of the important leagues in the world, so they have a lot of possibilities." Guangzhou captain Zheng Zhi,seemed in confident mood on Sunday saying "We have every chance of going through and reversing the result of the first leg , so I and all the players are confident we will win this match." I definitely feel they can edge this match and if they show half the slick passing and shoot on sight policy we saw in the 5-1 win in South Korea against Jeonbuk they might still turn this tie around."

Squad wise, they are on another level to almost everyone in Asia and have an annual playing budget 20 times bigger than Mariners, with Dario Conca earning in two months, what the entire Australian squad do in a year ! Lippi has used his contacts and spoken to good friend Alessandro Del Piero, who is playing in the A-League, several times recently to get some first hand experience of Central Coast. The Chinese giants will be without suspended defensive midfielder Qin Sheng, but he was unlikely to start in any case and they have no other problems. Evergrande could put this to bed in the first leg and odds against looks a fair quote.