Bonacic focussed on downing Frontale

AFCCL – Sepahan coach Luka Bonacic has said that victory in Wednesday’s AFC Asian Champions League quarter-final first leg tie against Kawasaki Frontale is his team’s main objective of their embryonic season.

Both sides are making their debuts in the knock-out stage of the competition but Sepahan go into the match at Foolad Shahr Stadium as the form team.

While the Japanese side have only one win in their last six J.League matches, ‘The Yellows’ of Esfahan have enjoyed an unbeaten start to their Iran Pro League season, winning four out of five matches to lie second in the table on goal difference behind Tehran giants Persepolis.

But Bonacic says that the five domestic league matches have all been about preparation for Wednesday’s AFC Champions League clash.

“My main objective so far this season has been to beat Kawasaki and for this reason in all the matches I’ve tried out different styles,” said the Croat.

“In (our last match against) Fajr Sepasi I spoke with the players and gave them tasks which they will have to perform against Kawasaki.

“I think they’ve carried out their responsibilities very well and if everything goes to plan, we will beat Kawasaki.”

Despite a flying start to the season and a formidable home record which saw them winning 12 out of 15 league matches at Foolad Shahr last season, Sepahan still go into the match with question marks hanging over their squad.

Three influential players – Armenian goalkeeper and cult hero Armenak Petrosyan, midfielder Mohammed Nori and forward Hamid Shafiei – left the club during the off-season while right-back Saeid Bayat is serving the second of a two-match suspension after being sent off in their penultimate group stage game against Al Ittihad of Syria.

But perhaps the biggest worry for Bonacic is that their top scorer in the competition is out of both quarter-final games with a knee injury. Seyed Mohamad Salehi, who was short-listed last week for the Asian Player of the Year award, scored four goals as Esfahan become only the second Iranian club to reach the last eight of the tournament.

The reigning Hazfi Cup holders finished above inaugural AFC Champions League winners Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi outfit Al Shabab and Syria’s Al Ittihad in Group D, winning four out of six matches, which included a memorable 5-0 thrashing of Al Ittihad in Syria.

In the absence of Salehi, Bonacic will be looking to Mahmoud Karimi to continue the blistering form which has seen him plunder five goals in as many matches.

Behind him, playmaker Moharram Navidkia, who seems to have rediscovered the form which earned him a move to German Bundesliga club Bochum in 2004, is charged with supplying the ammunition for the attack.

Bonacic has warned his defenders to be wary of Kawasaki’s pace up front but the 52-year-old is clearly focussed on building a lead to take back to Japan.

“We know a lot about Kawasaki and we know how to attack them. We can do this effectively through our fast and technical forwards,” he added.