Kitchee in make or break mission in AFC Cup
To win group F, Hong Kong champions need to beat East Bengal and hope Johor Darul Ta'zim of Malaysia slip up in their game
Kitchee's faint hopes of topping their AFC Cup group hang in the balance as they take on East Bengal of India at Mong Kok Stadium on Tuesday night.
The Hong Kong champions need to win and hope Johor Darul Ta'zim of Malaysia slip up in their game to win group F and gain home advantage in the single-leg round of 16.
Kitchee and Johor have already qualified, but the Malaysians have a two-point lead. They take on Balestier Khalsa of Singapore, the bottom team of the group, at home.
We know the situation is very difficult and are left with no other choice but to go all out for a victory over the visitors
"We know the situation is very difficult and are left with no other choice but going all out for a victory over the visitors," said Kitchee director of football Chu Chi-kwong. "We have to do our best and the rest is out of our hands.
"We might have won the group had it not been for an unexpected draw against East Bengal in the away match, but it's too late to complain now. We need a beautiful victory over the Indians to prove how unlucky we were in that match."
Should Kitchee finish second, they are likely to travel to Indonesia for a daunting encounter against Persib Bandung for a place in the quarter-finals.
"An away match against the Indonesians will be very demanding due to the difficult conditions there, but we won't think too much about that until the group competition is over," said Chu.
